Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[Indolent]

The second breakdown transpiring within the ranks of the former WTCHMEN didn't go amiss, Gretchen signaling to Hazel the scorpion faunus's mad departure into the woods. A frustrated scowl rimmed his features as he disengaged from his verbal flaying to pursue Tyrian with his sister guiding the way. The cries in the distance was heartwrenching, as was the telltale signs of the feral gait his teammate had taken. Gretchen chewed her bottom lip in anticipation of what she might find, what she might see in her brother, when they reached Tyrian. The situation had gone from bad to worse, something of an ordeal, and it was a stark reminder of an earlier conversation Hazel had with the selfsame faunus.

"What will you do now? Our team's relationships are strained or worse, with our sister team down a member. Will you come with us to help find Cinder? If so, once that's done, would that be the end of Team WTCH? I won't force you to stay, as my partner or friend. Arthur is taking all of this hard, we all are..."


The uncertainty was palpable in his words. "This is the worst time for division."

An angry growl born of frustration ground through grit teeth as he stomped through the forest, the intensity exponentially magnifying in size as they arrived what to Gretchen approximated to be the site where Tyrian had been, where he cried for the teammate gone with the wind. A series of pleading calls from Hazel might as well have fallen on deaf ears, his only answer a mocking echo of his words reverberating in these dense woods. Gretchen stood to the wayside helplessly, one arm gripping the other by the elbow as she watched Hazel demonstrate the peak of his frustration by the toppling the nearest tree with a clean lariat. A cacophonous crash and a series of blows upon the shattered trunk did nothing to alleviate the roiling emotions inside the elder Rainart and it was a good few minutes that passed before she dared to speak.

"So what do we do now?" Her words sung out, rife with uncertainty with her eyes affixed on his back.

A haggard sigh the opener in his response, he paused before glancing skyward through the gaping expanse he'd opened in the canopy. "We find Cinder. Knowing her, she'll interleave her duties as a maiden with finding Vernal. Conventional tracking isn't going to work so instead... we head for Atlas. Something is going on there and that is where the others'd have gone."

He didn't say the last of his words out of fear that airing them would have ensured them to never come to past. That's where we'll see Cinder again.

"... Okay. What about the others?"

"They're done. This is where we separate ways."

A silent affirmation was given though not without a somber shift to her posture, her brows levering above a forming frown. Hazel wasn't the only one that disliked how everything turned out, she was morose about it all too and felt worse yet that she wasn't of any help. She could imagine what it must have been like for her brother, feeling ineffectual and useless in the face of adversity when it came to his team. What used to be his team. That he couldn't help bear the burden Watts shouldered silently, be present enough to alleviate the strain on Tyrian's mind, and to ensure Little Red's safety in some capacity. It made her think of her own team, her leader Heinrich and the others. Their demises that could have been so preventable if things had gone just a bit differently. She knew it wasn't healthy to dwell on those but it was the human condition, to dwell on what seemed to have been within your control without regard for the extenuating circumstances that likely played the greater role. So her lips were stiff as she nodded wordlessly and fell in line behind Hazel, cognizant of the fact Hazel was perfectly aware of these things and more.

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The time passed without much recognition, the days falling into something of a routine with only a expanse of less than two weeks differentiating the rest. The twins left the bandit camp without so much another word, the need long past, and departed north leaving the vehicle to MEN and Watts's use, making their way back for Mistral on foot. The predominant rationale was for Gretchen to square matters with the irate family on the way, as well as collecting supplies, before finally arriving back to the city that was the continent's namesake. This took longer than was liked, much to Hazel's chagrin. To make matters worse, days were wasted on a cursory investigation, amounting to word on the street revolving around the local unsavory outraged over a pair of familiar individuals essentially robbing them and making off with a rental vehicle. The matter was given little thought, as there was naught to do and less yet as there was no way for Hazel to reach anyone else to dispense the information. So it was from there they made way to Argus via train, with the vibrant hopes of being able to finagle some means of reaching Atlas or maybe they'd discover the others. There, they spent time less enjoying the sights and trying to figure out their next step, whether it was by making contact with whomever was here or exacting a method of getting to Atlas. The days blurred past with trepidation mounting each day, centering around the unspoken thought of was this the wrong thing to do?

The question was alleviated, answered by the sudden emergence of the shadow fang on this gorgeous day with the sun and people out.

Tiger's barrage came to an end.

Was it still underhanded when your opponent had potential for power but was too young to fully grasp it?

Interesting food for thought but they couldn't afford to compromise here when Hound and her were fighting someone like Vernal.

Fighting the Bull and Hand would have been difficult, even for her. ...Not that Tiger was one to brag.

That was interesting, everything had just gone black.

Tiger didn't audibly complain about it or bemoan her circumstances. She merely closed her eyes and set her mind to thinking how to adapt to this.

She could feel her ears twitching something fierce under her mask. Maybe it was time to-

"Urk..."

The laser caught Tiger in the chest and sent her crashing to the ground. Her aura shimmered and she lay flat on her back.

That...had actually hurt.

What a relief.

It'd been too long since she'd found somebody capable of getting a good fight out of her.

Unzipping her mouth so she could cough up a storm after the impact from the laser ran it's course on her, she continued to lay there.

Her vision had been stripped from her, yes, but not her hearing...

Sitting up, she moved her hand to the back of her mask and dragged the zipper up.

The mask was zipped up and tossed off to the side. Tiger's flowing mane of hair poured out over her shoulders as she activated her semblance. Buried within her hair were two twitching feline ears and they could hear Vernal making her way off from the two of them. Likely to interfere and protect the younger, weaker, maiden. Obvious enough strategy but Tiger was afraid she couldn't let it happen. Her musculature shifted once more, this time actively looking grotesque as her arms shifted and twisted in order to better handle the influx of muscle and power running through them. The twisting her upper torso did made her resemble more of a bendable doll than a living being.

Hopping to her feet, her arms had taken on a paler coloration and more closely resembled tree trunks with how many bumps coated them and how thick they appeared to be.

Her eyes were still closed but for the first time in a while, she was actually smiling.

"What an opportunity...60% percent.."


Tiger didn't trust her aim to be true with her eyes in this condition. She'd likely end up pinging the mouthy dog than either of the Maidens if she continued with her air bullets.

Rearing both of her arms back, Tiger swung them downwards. The ground gave way to her monster strength and a shockwave barreled towards where Tiger had heard Vernal attempting to engage the others.

As for whether or not the others could be potential collateral?

They weren't invalids, they'd do what needed to be done.​

As Tiger recomposed herself from affecting the image of the mighty Atlas sundering the very earth with her blow, she would have found herself wrenched from her solid footing by a vice grip, pulled towards its origin with a stone laden fist embedding itself into her face. Hazel pulled Tiger back before the first blow would have separated the two, belting her once again with a second, heavier punch that made clear his anger in the form of the faunus likely careening into the wall nearby.

He would reorient himself following that, a seething furor emanating from his personage as bone and stone cracked in his approach, his intent very much clear.

...that. Cinder moaned in pain, sprawled out on top the shattered remains of that car. Still, despite the physical pain, despite the emotional gut punch, despite how her aura flickered even more, despite it all...Cinder forced herself to move. She had to be tougher than this, had to be stronger than this. Both hands pressed harder against the car, heating it up rapidly thanks to both her semblance and her maiden ability. After large amounts of the jagged metal and broken glass had been superheated, the pieces reformed in the air at her will, varying in size but now all taking the shape of sharp arrowheads. And then all the many many many projectiles were telekinetically launched at Blake in an attempt to knock her away and overwhelm the cat's aura from the sheer amount of things impacting her.

Cinder pushed herself to roll off the car, landing back first onto the asphalt with a grunt before slowly getting back onto her feet and taking a brief breather.

Cinder found something, or someone, that shouldn't have been there for her to see. A familiar diminutive creature coated in brown with beady black eyes staring at her, a wiggle of the serpentine torso a clear indicator of its excitement at seeing her. His ears twitched in rapid alternation before he hoisted both murder-paws, swiveling both in a clockwise fashion as if to indicate Cinder really should follow. The next instant, he was gone, sprinting down the grooves of the cobbled way towards an alley.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

...that. Cinder moaned in pain, sprawled out on top the shattered remains of that car. Still, despite the physical pain, despite the emotional gut punch, despite how her aura flickered even more, despite it all...Cinder forced herself to move. She had to be tougher than this, had to be stronger than this. Both hands pressed harder against the car, heating it up rapidly thanks to both her semblance and her maiden ability. After large amounts of the jagged metal and broken glass had been superheated, the pieces reformed in the air at her will, varying in size but now all taking the shape of sharp arrowheads. And then all the many many many projectiles were telekinetically launched at Blake in an attempt to knock her away and overwhelm the cat's aura from the sheer amount of things impacting her.

Cinder pushed herself to roll off the car, landing back first onto the asphalt with a grunt before slowly getting back onto her feet and taking a brief breather.​

As the car started to turn to slag under Cinder's hands, Blake's eyes widened and she threw her arms across her face defensively-

The flechette storm of molten metal and glass tore into her form like her aura wasn't even there. it dug into her arms, gut, and head, burning holes straight through her and spurting out behind her in gouts of liquid so hot that the entire car turned was slowly covered in a haze of steam, till one particularly big flechette simply tore the head off her shoulders. It slowly slid off her neck and onto the ground with a thump next to where Cinder was on her knees, obscured in the mist till it rolled closer.

It was made of ice

A knee slammed into the side of Cinder's head before she could get all the way to her feet, smashing her into the what was left of the car's side. A blade tore through the steam right after it for Cinder's chest, and for the first time since this fight began Cinder heard Blake's voice; though she still didn't direct any words to her prey.

"The Rainharts are here"


---------------------------------------------

The spring maiden pulled on where she had grasped the spear herself, attempting to wrench Hound into a position where he would take the brunt of that shockwave instead of herself, as an unwilling meatshield.

The maneuver worked exactly as planned, Hound spinning in front of Vernal... until the thrusters on the spear kicked on and rotation way too far and putting Vernal right back in front again, hound cackling right up until the point the shockwave actually hit them.

He... really underestimated how hard that was gonna hit.

Even with Vernal in the way, Hound had to drag himself out of a pile of rubble that used to be a wall in the aftermath, coughing up dust and rubbing a bit of blood of his cheek. "What... the fuck arena meat... what the fuck was that? 70? 80 percent? Why the fuck would you point that at us you fucking cockhole, augh... *cough*"

He pointed his spear towards wherever Vernal had ended up in that mess and lolled his head back towards her, a far more annoyed grin on his face as he rolled his shoulders with a grunt of pain. "Sorry bout that, mutt. You still breathin? Better be, or the Hand might finally be in trouble with daddy dearest."

 

[MyrtenRose]

Cinder found something, or someone, that shouldn't have been there for her to see. A familiar diminutive creature coated in brown with beady black eyes staring at her, a wiggle of the serpentine torso a clear indicator of its excitement at seeing her. His ears twitched in rapid alternation before he hoisted both murder-paws, swiveling both in a clockwise fashion as if to indicate Cinder really should follow. The next instant, he was gone, sprinting down the grooves of the cobbled way towards an alley.

"It's you." She couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. Surprising, but not unwelcome. Yet before she could even think of following, as the creature clearly wanted her to, her gaze shifted over to where Blake was.​

The flechette storm of molten metal and glass tore into her form like her aura wasn't even there. it dug into her arms, gut, and head, burning holes straight through her and spurting out behind her in gouts of liquid so hot that the entire car turned was slowly covered in a haze of steam, till one particularly big flechette simply tore the head off her shoulders. It slowly slid off her neck and onto the ground with a thump next to where Cinder was on her knees, obscured in the mist till it rolled closer.

"...………" The results of that attack got Cinder's shoulders to slump, both hands rising to cover her mouth and barely managing to stifle her shocked gasp. All she could see was the shadowy outline of the faunus as the storm of projectiles seemingly tore through the cat's body. And then some! Her whole freaking head came loose from her shoulders. No. No no no no no, that can't have...I didn't put that much power into those, h-her aura, it had to be more, couldn't be gone, n-no way...right? I didn't want...that's not what I meant to...to...

The thought that she had just killed somebody left her paralyzed in horror as the head rolled across the ground towards her.​

It was made of ice

Even the slowly dawning realization of what had actually happened wasn't quite enough to rid Cinder of the guilt of what she thought she'd done. The teenager still had not moved to follow. It left her wide open.​

A knee slammed into the side of Cinder's head before she could get all the way to her feet, smashing her into the what was left of the car's side. A blade tore through the steam right after it for Cinder's chest, and for the first time since this fight began Cinder heard Blake's voice; though she still didn't direct any words to her prey.

"The Rainharts are here"

The knee strike spiked her head into the remaining wreckage of the car with a painful sounding clang, but that was enough to rouse Cinder from her numb, unmoving state as her survival instinct kicked back up in full force. When the sword came in, Cinder threw herself to the side to let it cut into the car instead. Before any following attacks could be made, bursts of fire threw Cinder forward in an apparent attempt to fly away. In truth, she only used the momentum of that to barrel through Blake and give her a solid running start to follow Brosel down that alley.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The maneuver worked exactly as planned, Hound spinning in front of Vernal... until the thrusters on the spear kicked on and rotation way too far and putting Vernal right back in front again, hound cackling right up until the point the shockwave actually hit them.

He... really underestimated how hard that was gonna hit.

Even with Vernal in the way, Hound had to drag himself out of a pile of rubble that used to be a wall in the aftermath, coughing up dust and rubbing a bit of blood of his cheek. "What... the fuck arena meat... what the fuck was that? 70? 80 percent? Why the fuck would you point that at us you fucking cockhole, augh... *cough*"

He pointed his spear towards wherever Vernal had ended up in that mess and lolled his head back towards her, a far more annoyed grin on his face as he rolled his shoulders with a grunt of pain. "Sorry bout that, mutt. You still breathin? Better be, or the Hand might finally be in trouble with daddy dearest."

She'd tried to jet away in a hurry after that swivel had put her back in the front again...but the shockwave came in too fast. Her attempt only meant that it ending up sending her more skyward than Hound. The force knocked her end over end, flipping several times as she soared back...until she smashed face-first into the solid outer wall of an Argus theater. The impact was more than sufficient to leave a noticeable dent...and then Vernal fell backwards and hit the ground a good fifteen feet or so below. Her blue aura flickered from all that damage, but it still did not break.

That fact didn't do anything for the pain, though. The spring maiden was slow getting up, but she had done so by the time Hound started calling her mutt. "Worry about yourself." Vernal growled back, any amusement that had been present on her face having disappeared entirely.

Enough of this bullshit. She didn't care who was watching, didn't give a damn about any poor fools who might get caught in the way. It would be their own damn fault for sticking around this long. Fierce winds suddenly buffeted Hound and Eve and anyone else too close as Vernal levitated up into the air, thick grey storm clouds already emerging in the otherwise clear blue skies. By the time she stopped rising upwards, they were fully formed. The Spring Maiden brought down a lightning storm, intending to fry and overwhelm every single one of the bastards in sight.

​

 

[MidwayLives]

The maneuver worked exactly as planned, Hound spinning in front of Vernal... until the thrusters on the spear kicked on and rotation way too far and putting Vernal right back in front again, hound cackling right up until the point the shockwave actually hit them.

To hold a grudge was meaningless unless you ever intended to follow through on it.

It was simply wasted energy otherwise.

So, no, Tiger didn't hate her canine partner.

She didn't feel for him at all.
​

Even with Vernal in the way, Hound had to drag himself out of a pile of rubble that used to be a wall in the aftermath, coughing up dust and rubbing a bit of blood of his cheek. "What... the fuck arena meat... what the fuck was that? 70? 80 percent? Why the fuck would you point that at us you fucking cockhole, augh... *cough*"

Even so, something about this felt satisfying.

"60%" She clarified.

Given that he was still talking, Tiger had to hope that the other body he heard thumping around in the aftermath of her attack was the maiden's. The latter had power but Tiger was raw power.

She still couldn't see but if she just managed to close the distance, her ears would guide her. This was going to be over-
​

, she would have found herself wrenched from her solid footing by a vice grip, pulled towards its origin

She'd heard footsteps approaching her. Heavy sounding ones from the sound of it.

Truthfully she hadn't paid it much mind. The maidens were her prime concern right now. Anything else was secondary to what had been asked of her.

That was until she actually felt the grip around her forearm. It felt tight and secure.

"Let go."

It'd be this person's only warning before-

Tiger's eyes widened as she was pulled. The surprise grew even more as a fist cracked her right in the face. Her aura flared around her and she took a step back. The power behind that punch it...
​

Hazel pulled Tiger back before the first blow would have separated the two, belting her once again with a second, heavier punch that made clear his anger in the form of the faunus likely careening into the wall nearby.

The first punch had stumbled her.

This one?

It knocked the brawler off her feet and straight through the nearest wall.

As debris fell around her, she laid in the pile staring calmly up at the ceiling. The building she'd been punched into hadn't been abanonded and it's patrons fled in terror at the brawl that was seemingly about to get underway between these two goliaths. Tiger paid them little mind. No, no, her mind was focused on whoever it was that had punched her like that.

It'd been an absolutely exhilarating experience.

Ever since she was a little girl, she'd struggled to control her semblance. Others would underestimate her much to their peril and her gain.

She could still recall her first kill.

The sound of their gun going off, the warm feeling of her own blood running down her shoulder, their screams as this little tiger faunus picked up a boulder five times bigger than her. The girl that would later become known as Tiger screamed and swung the boulder downwards at her soon to be victim's head.

The squelches would never leave her memories.

That occasion also marked the first time she'd ever truly been hurt growing up. Her most recent fight had been against the woman who held the moniker of Tiger before her and as impressive as the fight had been, Tiger saw victory from the word go.

This warrior, whomever they were, they were different from the rest.

This did put a smile on her face.

"Heh..."
​

He would reorient himself following that, a seething furor emanating from his personage as bone and stone cracked in his approach, his intent very much clear.

They hadn't moved too far from where they'd been standing initially. She didn't need her eyes to tell her that this stranger wasn't going to sucker punch her and run. They clearly desired this fight as much as she did and she figured that was worthy of a special honor.

The likes of which that only her fellow Shadow Fang had been privy to.

"I do not know you, stranger. But your boldness interests me. Normally, I'd spend more time on you but I've a job to do."

Her entire body seemed to bulge and wriggle as parts of her pants started tearing at the seams. Her complexion only grew grayer and her eyes even more bright red. Her shoulders swelled and her arms and torso weren't too far behind. The entire top half of her outfit was torn to shreds leaving her clothed at the waist and a sports bra hiding away the rest. The misama that had been constant up to this point pooled around Tiger's person. Her eyes still closed, a seemingly genuine smile was plastered upon her face.

"One can only hope that you'll forgive me if I make this brief. "

'Whoever you are, I applaud you for standing up as you did. I'll honor your commitment with 80% of my semblance's power'

Rearing back one of her herculean arms, Tiger swung it outwards, the force alone from her swing sending a massive gust of wind in Hazel's direction. Debris went soaring and cars fell off onto their sides. Alarms blared and wailed but Tiger sounded them all out. All that mattered was finishing this up and moving onto what needed to be done. Blasting forward, Tiger grit her teeth and went in for a strong punch to the face like the one she'd been gifted.

"RRRRAAAAGH!"​

 

[Indolent]

The knee strike spiked her head into the remaining wreckage of the car with a painful sounding clang, but that was enough to rouse Cinder from her numb, unmoving state as her survival instinct kicked back up in full force. When the sword came in, Cinder threw herself to the side to let it cut into the car instead. Before any following attacks could be made, bursts of fire threw Cinder forward in an apparent attempt to fly away. In truth, she only used the momentum of that to barrel through Blake and give her a solid running start to follow Brosel down that alley.

The word darting did not suffice in encapsulating the speediness of the stoat when Brosel exerted genuine effort in vacating the premises with all the faculties he could bring to bear. Which was just as well, as the weasel was keenly aware of the danger pervading the circumstances unfolding all around him. Cinder might have had difficulty tracking him were it over a vast distance but as this was anything but that, she saw where he disappeared around the corner of the aforementioned alley. When Cinder rounded into it, she saw it was not a close ended one that terminated but a throughway between parallel streets, with the ubiquitous dumpster straying off to one side. In the center of the unkempt path was a woman adorned in green and brown with a scarf that was frankly more than exceedingly long than was practical. Brosel was already perched within the scarf, his eyes scanning the buildings' edges and tops on both sides with a raptor focus as well as acting as a second pair of eyes for the woman's six-o-clock. A wild smirk was set in her features, her amber eyes glinting with confidence as she hoisted Dearth in preparation, sliding into her battle ready stance proper.

"Brosel told me everything, Hazel's here, move!" She'd call out to Cinder, sliding through the enunciation of each word such that they almost blended together amid backpedaling, her eyes squarely set in the direction both came from, scanning in the same fashion as Brosel. Gretchen knew the Fall Maiden already took a series of hits already and she couldn't take a protracted fight right now, as much as she was likely willing to dole said hits back in kind. Locking the maiden down and assailing her with everything they had was the play, the monkey wrench to toss in was extricating Cinder and keeping on the move while fighting back. Plus a few other things.

To hold a grudge was meaningless unless you ever intended to follow through on it.

It was simply wasted energy otherwise.

So, no, Tiger didn't hate her canine partner.

She didn't feel for him at all.


Even so, something about this felt satisfying.

"60%" She clarified.

Given that he was still talking, Tiger had to hope that the other body he heard thumping around in the aftermath of her attack was the maiden's. The latter had power but Tiger was raw power.

She still couldn't see but if she just managed to close the distance, her ears would guide her. This was going to be over-

She'd heard footsteps approaching her. Heavy sounding ones from the sound of it.

Truthfully she hadn't paid it much mind. The maidens were her prime concern right now. Anything else was secondary to what had been asked of her.

That was until she actually felt the grip around her forearm. It felt tight and secure.

"Let go."

It'd be this person's only warning before-

Tiger's eyes widened as she was pulled. The surprise grew even more as a fist cracked her right in the face. Her aura flared around her and she took a step back. The power behind that punch it...


The first punch had stumbled her.

This one?

It knocked the brawler off her feet and straight through the nearest wall.

As debris fell around her, she laid in the pile staring calmly up at the ceiling. The building she'd been punched into hadn't been abanonded and it's patrons fled in terror at the brawl that was seemingly about to get underway between these two goliaths. Tiger paid them little mind. No, no, her mind was focused on whoever it was that had punched her like that.

It'd been an absolutely exhilarating experience.

Ever since she was a little girl, she'd struggled to control her semblance. Others would underestimate her much to their peril and her gain.

She could still recall her first kill.

The sound of their gun going off, the warm feeling of her own blood running down her shoulder, their screams as this little tiger faunus picked up a boulder five times bigger than her. The girl that would later become known as Tiger screamed and swung the boulder downwards at her soon to be victim's head.

The squelches would never leave her memories.

That occasion also marked the first time she'd ever truly been hurt growing up. Her most recent fight had been against the woman who held the moniker of Tiger before her and as impressive as the fight had been, Tiger saw victory from the word go.

This warrior, whomever they were, they were different from the rest.

This did put a smile on her face.

"Heh..."


They hadn't moved too far from where they'd been standing initially. She didn't need her eyes to tell her that this stranger wasn't going to sucker punch her and run. They clearly desired this fight as much as she did and she figured that was worthy of a special honor.

The likes of which that only her fellow Shadow Fang had been privy to.

"I do not know you, stranger. But your boldness interests me. Normally, I'd spend more time on you but I've a job to do."

Her entire body seemed to bulge and wriggle as parts of her pants started tearing at the seams. Her complexion only grew grayer and her eyes even more bright red. Her shoulders swelled and her arms and torso weren't too far behind. The entire top half of her outfit was torn to shreds leaving her clothed at the waist and a sports bra hiding away the rest. The misama that had been constant up to this point pooled around Tiger's person. Her eyes still closed, a seemingly genuine smile was plastered upon her face.

"One can only hope that you'll forgive me if I make this brief. "

'Whoever you are, I applaud you for standing up as you did. I'll honor your commitment with 80% of my semblance's power'

Rearing back one of her herculean arms, Tiger swung it outwards, the force alone from her swing sending a massive gust of wind in Hazel's direction. Debris went soaring and cars fell off onto their sides. Alarms blared and wailed but Tiger sounded them all out. All that mattered was finishing this up and moving onto what needed to be done. Blasting forward, Tiger grit her teeth and went in for a strong punch to the face like the one she'd been gifted.

"RRRRAAAAGH!"​

"I don't care." Came the abrupt interjection in the middle of Tiger's second sentence, spelling out the death knell for the third.

An operation in broad daylight, in a populous locale with innocents all around, with the hallmarks of what looked to be the Shadow Fang. An attack with innocents involved alone was more than enough a reason to enter the fray in their defense but this situation, it was different. There was something of note to the Shadow Fang's presence, speaking to a rationale behind the aforementioned operation, as if there was something or someone they had come for. He sighted Vernal from behind the tiger faunus, confirming his suspicions and catching wind there were more in play than just these. It had to have meant Cinder was here.

Hazel Rainart was... angry. Angry at every aspect of this attack, at the faunus's (those involved) callous disregard for life, for disrupting the port city's shaky peace, for attempting to take his friend's life, for contributing to the death of Roman Torchwick, for the dismemberment of Tyrian Callows, for the impromptu disbanding of team WTCH. It all coalesced into a silent fury, easily etched into Tiger's being just by the sheer scrutinizing gaze that fell over her.

He didn't expect it to dissuade her but instead that it urge her to come. The nature of the attack that followed was unexpected, an unanticipated twist but the surprise he might have emoted died in the cradle. The buffeting winds struck him first, his arms crossed parallel to protect his face as a whirlwind of detritus and appliances streaked past with a trash can necessitating having to be batted aside. His feet easily found purchase in the old cobbles, burying deep as a pair of solid anchors-- it was a shame to do this to the architecture but it came as a necessity. The actual attack arrived, Hazel intuiting the faunus's intent of repaying him in kind. Except he didn't allow a repeat of the exact same treatment she had received for himself, his right arm folding back as he contorted his abdomen to the left to absorb and deflect the force of the blow via the guard.

Hazel didn't expect to remain standing where he stood, torn from his footings and sent hurtling across the way in similar fashion to the gust of earlier, his . The experience was a not dissimilar to that of the round up amusement ride, the force pressing down onto your body as you gyrated. Except this was far more a personal one centering on his body, with the the gargantuan Mistralian spinning until he collided the side of a semi's trailer laden with produce, it crumpling under the weight of his body as the force carried not only him but the trailer into the face of a building adjacent to the vehicle. Embedded within the interior of the building, what used to be the contents of the trailer in conjunction with the newly created debris was strewn across his form. While there was a noticeable absence of stars in his vision, it hadn't meant he felt none of the force from the blow, as much as it was diffused by his guard. It was in this instant his rational voice insisted he not engage in his knock down and drag out approach for a menagerie of reasons, a prominent one being his health. It had to do little to summon the memory of his attempt with Vernal a month and half ago at Haven, how she had soundly defeated him with a direct blow, his aura completely shattered. Were it anyone else, their spirits in the moment may have been dampened but not Hazel. The remembrance prompted a resurgence in his aura, his anger in conjunction with his indomitable willpower seeing to its full regeneration.

A series of grunts cemented his status as not a casualty, the Mistralian working his way out through mess overlaying his body with little issue, finally emerging onto the street once more. He took the moment to make a point of brushing himself off, noting the lack of the earth that had encased his arm prior, every speck of dust and vegetable expelled from his person. Every fiber of his being compelled him to redouble his efforts, rejoin the battle and bury Tiger under an unrelenting assault; it was almost a second battle he waged internally. His eyes had been closed as he cleaned himself off, resisting the urge with the recognition of earlier well in mind. When they opened, a brown swirled within the sclera of his eyes, surrounding hazel irises, that grew in intensity as the dust circulated through his body. The craggy rock on his right reemerged as Hazel stared down Tiger, his body itching to undertake great violence that he disallowed.

"I didn't feel that one." His words came, his tone that of baiting condescension.

 

[Indolent]

They've so very nearly gone off a cliff several times but immaculate driving prowess has been passed down the Sustrai line for generations, averting an untimely demise.

The roadtrip was something of a cherished occasion for those that had the means and availability to undertake it despite these dangerous times. Oft times, memories and experiences were born amid the journey itself, shared in between the people banding together for adventure. It was what was encapsulated so succinctly in the saying that it was the journey, not the destination. A pithy adage that held true... for most.

Emerald Sustrai was utterly bored out of her skull, the sights of Mistral going amiss as she did mainly the driving, and with a passenger that might as well have been a marionette posing in the passenger seat. She had considered entertaining the void's call on the occasion amid the drive, if only for a swift alleviation of the intense tedium, but she decided she was merely just being melodramatic and elected to exercise her patience thoroughly. That in of itself was an adventure of its own undertaking in her mind's eye.

It did nothing to dissuade the passive aggression that bled out on the occasion towards Neo, indubitably it was the same for the diminutive assassin. Tensions may very well have been mounting to a broil between the two if it had not been that they'd found their quarry. Or as close as they could approximate, having tracked the students with the relic to the bandit camp. They didn't dare to follow in, content to see what came of it--

Was that two maidens streaking into the distance??? She gave it time, figuring where they emerged from had been the camp and maybe that they'd return. In a hour or two, they'd come back out, a merry band with their rediscovered friend, smile alighting on their lips, as they rejoin the journey to saving the world and going home. Yippity Dippity Yay. But that wasn't what happened exactly, the time a wider expanse than she predicted.

A breathy exhale skirted her lips as she blinked. "I have nooooooo idea what is happening-- hide the car, hide the car!" She squawked the order out, ratcheting her seat back that it was nearly perfectly horizontal, averting her upper torso from their gaze through the driver's window. When the telltale sign of their vehicle rumbled past, Emerald took stock of the general direction they were going, ears piqued to ascertain their positioning before the sound diminished completely. Another minute, an exercise in caution, she slowly levered her seat back to normalcy, the upper portion of her body a sudden and hilarious contrast to the background of thick ever greens and matted ground, seemingly floating in place before the car's invisible camouflage shattered.

"So they're going back to Mistral?" She frowned, pondering the circumstances before she remembered. "Right, Atlas's trading port is to the very north. They probably want to get to Atlas for the next relic. The agenda really has been pushed forward. Ungh, hopefully they won't stay for long in Mistral. Considering, y'know, the people we pissed off. Or rather I did." Her demeanor in its entirety shifted to encapsulate the essence of a frown, a soft thrumming signalling her discontentment before she nodded as an affirmation to herself. Something of an assurance.

"Yeaaaah, they won't be there long. Shouldn't be a problem. We'll be fiiiine."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A man in what seemed to be his forties in nondescript attire, a face fit to be described as blending in with the crowd with hardly anything of note to him, was practically on his knees, chest heaving as he begged in way of a boon. His brown eyes verged on releasing the dam.

"Please, Lil' Miss Malachite, I can't afford this month's protection but I need it. The attack on Haven has driven business down to a nil since nobody is visiting in fear of attack by the Shadow Faunus or renegade huntsmen! Even the more unruly sorts from the south are moving in--"

"Now sweet thing, if you want our protection, you have to pay and I don't much care how you arrive at the means by which you do it. You wouldn't want me to let slip the beans in your closet to the Shadow Fang folks about your employees? The ones you pay a dime on the lien under the table. Now that gives me an idea..."

"You could take the tidy savings from that and just... pay... me? Mum's the word!"

"I... I... need that to stay afloat--"

A brisk gaze cast over the man, defeating him in an instant. His demeanor shifted to crestfallen in an instant, a weighty difficulty coming to terms with the circumstances in which he found himself complete with the understanding he had no choice but to accept it.

"I'll do it... thank you, Lil' Miss Malachite."

"No, thank you. It is my absolute joy to offer a service. Now, have yourself a drink at the bar, on me, and don't dilly dally! Ta ta!"

A haughty flick of the wrist with a beatific smile sent the despondent man away, his eyes a far gaze as he stumbled towards the aforementioned bar. Lil' Miss Malachite observed the state of that man, one of her many clients, with a silent tsk and the curt shake of the head atop a displeased look which more than well conveyed her opinion of that sorry lot. Fliicking the ashes loose from the cigarette into the ash tray, she took a brief drag and aligned herself in her seat so as to look satisfied.

It wasn't even minute before the bodyguard flanking on her right approached her, a brown haired, bearded man attired in the same colors as his benefactor, whispering to her.

"We've got em boss, still, we could hit em. Make greenie and her pipsqueak friend pay for what they did to us over a month ago. Now I know you said not to be hasty but--"

Despite her rotund appearance, the seven healthy layers of make-up strewn across her cheekbones, Lil' Miss Malachite's anger was still to be feared, encapsulated in a penetrating gaze that bid the bodyguard's words come no longer.

"If I've said it once, I've said it a bullion times. You aren't to lay a hand on em. Believe you me, I'm raring to pay them back for it but I've got get my ducks in a basket before we do anything!"

"Y-yeah, alright, Lil' Miss. Sorry." He moved to adopting a contrite tone with his boss, beggaring for forgiveness with his female counterpart standing to the side with a solitary brow quizzically raised at the exchange. She was of a similar line of thinking but unlike her colleague, she had been smarter to keep her tongue still.

The crime boss's displeasure was still evident in her demeanor, fuming in a huff as she shooed him away, muttering to the effect of her good mood having been ruined. In the next instant, she slipped from her seat, contorting in a way that astounded even the dullest observer as she shot them a bone-chilling glance to both bodyguards behind.

"I'll be having my smoke break apart from you, since you two seem to know only how to ruin a lady's mood."

And off in a rapid pace of footsteps, the boss ducked out into a room apart from the open foyer where she conducted business, with the smattering of tables aside the bar. When the door closed shut, both bodyguards shot the other an inquiring look.

"She's actin' real weird, ain't she?"
"Big time, since when she been like that?"
"Dunno. And since when did she take smoke breaks, she's smoked nine packs in front of us in a single day."
"God, I know, secondhand from a chimney stack honestly."
"Never mind that shit, isn't it weird still she ain't made a move yet..."
"I don't know man, but those malaphors are new, and they're killin' me."

Well within the confines of the tiny and tidy room, Lil' Miss's demeanor distorted, a quivering in the shoulders escalating into a strong shuddering that crept up the neck and finally to her skull, with the epitome of disgust well in display across her features. Her form cracked, before shattering to reveal



"I'm confident I've lost like 70% of my sense of taste chowing down these disgusting cigarettes!" She hissed, rubbing her temples in a bid to calm herself down as her eyes flicked to the other inhabitant in the room.

"I know, this has to be rough on you Neo. I'm trying to space out how long I keep up appearances but this piggy was entrenched in doing business first hand. Not how I'd operate a syndicate but she made it work... as much as I hate, hate, hate, hate it."

A haggard sigh followed as she rested one hand on her hip, eyes half lidded in contemplation before she swung around completely to face Neo.

"It's just about becoming a bit too much keeping up this charade. It's necessary, if we wanna keep the others safe, but something's going to break and this house of ciggarette cartons' going to come crashing down all around us. I realize grieving is a real important process and it's different for everyone blah blah blah but d'ya think you have an idea how longer we might have to stay here?"

A pause as she considered something else.

"Though the flow of info and lien is monumentally helpful so I shouldn't really be complaining. Even if some details are... interesting and conflicting."

 

[Gus Gungus]

She'd tried to jet away in a hurry after that swivel had put her back in the front again...but the shockwave came in too fast. Her attempt only meant that it ending up sending her more skyward than Hound. The force knocked her end over end, flipping several times as she soared back...until she smashed face-first into the solid outer wall of an Argus theater. The impact was more than sufficient to leave a noticeable dent...and then Vernal fell backwards and hit the ground a good fifteen feet or so below. Her blue aura flickered from all that damage, but it still did not break.

That fact didn't do anything for the pain, though. The spring maiden was slow getting up, but she had done so by the time Hound started calling her mutt. "Worry about yourself." Vernal growled back, any amusement that had been present on her face having disappeared entirely.

Enough of this bullshit. She didn't care who was watching, didn't give a damn about any poor fools who might get caught in the way. It would be their own damn fault for sticking around this long. Fierce winds suddenly buffeted Hound and Eve and anyone else too close as Vernal levitated up into the air, thick grey storm clouds already emerging in the otherwise clear blue skies. By the time she stopped rising upwards, they were fully formed. The Spring Maiden brought down a lightning storm, intending to fry and overwhelm every single one of the bastards in sight.

Eve was clear of the melee by that point, having pulled out when Vernal's attention went towards Hound to let him suffer the consequences of that alone because she didn't care about him. She wasn't interested in getting involved while the spring maiden felt out the waters early on in general. She'd seen what she could do, at least snippets of it, and knew full well a close-quarters engagement with this bandit trash ended at whatever time she wanted it to, so until she started playing her real hand Eve wasn't inclined to do the same. So the bull watched, foot straddling the edge of a rooftop as Vernal rose higher and higher into the air, and by the time the thunderclouds rolled in and lightning gathered she already knew what she was going to do. Bolts one, two and three streaked for her position in rapid succession, but when they did she just closed her eyes, blared her aura instincts to drown out everything else, raised sword and scabbard above her head, and let the metal do its natural work. The lightning struck, but rather than zapping Eve directly it found itself drawn to the natural lightning rods in her hands instead, the metal conducting even as her semblance converted the charge into something else.

Eve stepped off the roof, let herself fall gracefully for Vernal's position, and as her hair, clothing and blade all lit up a vibrant crimson delivered one neat, clean slice to try and cleave straight through the remainder of Vernal's aura and sever her arm at the shoulder, without so much as a flicker of guilt or remorse to disrupt her mask of intense focus. Attacking Cinder wasn't something she had relished; She was just a girl with her own ideals. Frankly, her no-restraint approach to Vernal was being spurred by a nagging desire to get back over there before Blake did anything regrettable.

But Vernal? If they were still on fraternizing terms, Eve actually would've thanked her for being who she was. For being a warrior who lived by a code of strength, a bandit who killed, cheated and stole. Someone who chose her path in life, no different to Eve herself. Someone the Talon had no reservations using her full strength against.

She put a majority of the energy she absorbed into that one slash, but kept a bit on reserve to deliver a flurry of more glancing slashes to rake up and down her aura in the event the primary strike failed. Either way the bull landed, Wilt returned to its sheath with a smooth click as she straightened up and waited for Vernal to fall.

"You're right, you know. We're not that different at all."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

The knee strike spiked her head into the remaining wreckage of the car with a painful sounding clang, but that was enough to rouse Cinder from her numb, unmoving state as her survival instinct kicked back up in full force. When the sword came in, Cinder threw herself to the side to let it cut into the car instead. Before any following attacks could be made, bursts of fire threw Cinder forward in an apparent attempt to fly away. In truth, she only used the momentum of that to barrel through Blake and give her a solid running start to follow Brosel down that alley.

The sword sliced clean through the car door, whipping still molten metal in an arc behind Blake on the backswing but making it so the only defense she could offer against the ballistic maiden was raising her arm and knee between her and the ensuing impact. She hit the ground with a roll and came back up in a crouch just in time to see Cinder disappear into the mist behind her, brosel in the lead.

"hmph."

The word darting did not suffice in encapsulating the speediness of the stoat when Brosel exerted genuine effort in vacating the premises with all the faculties he could bring to bear. Which was just as well, as the weasel was keenly aware of the danger pervading the circumstances unfolding all around him. Cinder might have had difficulty tracking him were it over a vast distance but as this was anything but that, she saw where he disappeared around the corner of the aforementioned alley. When Cinder rounded into it, she saw it was not a close ended one that terminated but a throughway between parallel streets, with the ubiquitous dumpster straying off to one side. In the center of the unkempt path was a woman adorned in green and brown with a scarf that was frankly more than exceedingly long than was practical. Brosel was already perched within the scarf, his eyes scanning the buildings' edges and tops on both sides with a raptor focus as well as acting as a second pair of eyes for the woman's six-o-clock. A wild smirk was set in her features, her amber eyes glinting with confidence as she hoisted Dearth in preparation, sliding into her battle ready stance proper.

"Brosel told me everything, Hazel's here, move!" She'd call out to Cinder, sliding through the enunciation of each word such that they almost blended together amid backpedaling, her eyes squarely set in the direction both came from, scanning in the same fashion as Brosel. Gretchen knew the Fall Maiden already took a series of hits already and she couldn't take a protracted fight right now, as much as she was likely willing to dole said hits back in kind. Locking the maiden down and assailing her with everything they had was the play, the monkey wrench to toss in was extricating Cinder and keeping on the move while fighting back. Plus a few other things.

When Gretchen saw Cinder round the corner, she noticed something the maiden had forgotten. Understandably so - with all the anger and fear in at war in her heart, and adrenaline pumping through her veins, something that wasn't in her direct line of sight was easy to forget. But Gretchen could see it plain as day; something that could've been mistaken for a stylish choker, except for the additional line of black ribbon trailing behind her. Not even six feet behind her Blake burst around the corner in a sliding stop, mask inscrutable as she held her weapon aloft





Whatever attack was launched at her, if any, she didn't even try to dodge. It struck an ephemeral form at the same time the real Blake came flying down from the rooftops above, deathly silent right up to the point her foot collided with the back of Gretchen's head. The streak of motion she was continued right past Gretchen at a downward diagonal, her sheathe-sword slicing across Cinder's knees as she slid past, before her foot wrapped the trailling ribbon around it and gave it a flick.

A bang echoed down the alleyway, and Gambol shroud came whirling through the air on a trajectory straight for Cinder's head at the same time Blake semblance dashed backwards in a spinning strike for Gretchen's neck, not a word spoken or even a sound uttered through through it all.


---------------------------------------------------

That fact didn't do anything for the pain, though. The spring maiden was slow getting up, but she had done so by the time Hound started calling her mutt. "Worry about yourself." Vernal growled back, any amusement that had been present on her face having disappeared entirely.

Enough of this bullshit. She didn't care who was watching, didn't give a damn about any poor fools who might get caught in the way. It would be their own damn fault for sticking around this long. Fierce winds suddenly buffeted Hound and Eve and anyone else too close as Vernal levitated up into the air, thick grey storm clouds already emerging in the otherwise clear blue skies. By the time she stopped rising upwards, they were fully formed. The Spring Maiden brought down a lightning storm, intending to fry and overwhelm every single one of the bastards in sight.

The same couldn't be said for across town, as Hound tilted his head upwards towards the sound of Vernal's voice, his vision still far too blurry and dark to even vaguely ascertain her position that way. "Yeeaah? Gonna shoot a fireball at me? Do another one of those swipes you did before? Lemme be honest; I haven't been worried from the word go, you mutt. Gimme somethin to really worry about! Something to make this whole trip WORTH A DAMN! Something like..."

His ears flicked on top of his head, and he turned his gaze even farther up as the first rumble of thunder came. "...Yea, YEA! Something like THAT! C'mon mutt, show me you're more than just bark! Hit me with your best shot! Make this body actually work!" He howled up at her in delight as he spun his spear into his hands over his head, crouched low to the ground, flared his semblance...

And bunny hopped five feet to the right, back through the wall Tiger's smash had sent him through. He stood still in stunned, affronted surprise as a bevy of lightning bolts hit the roof and the ground outside, his semblance not feeling the need to move him any farther out of danger.

"...Oh for FUCKS SAKE-"

 

[MyrtenRose]

Eve stepped off the roof, let herself fall gracefully for Vernal's position, and as her hair, clothing and blade all lit up a vibrant crimson delivered one neat, clean slice to try and cleave straight through the remainder of Vernal's aura and sever her arm at the shoulder, without so much as a flicker of guilt or remorse to disrupt her mask of intense focus. Attacking Cinder wasn't something she had relished; She was just a girl with her own ideals. Frankly, her no-restraint approach to Vernal was being spurred by a nagging desire to get back over there before Blake did anything regrettable.

But Vernal? If they were still on fraternizing terms, Eve actually would've thanked her for being who she was. For being a warrior who lived by a code of strength, a bandit who killed, cheated and stole. Someone who chose her path in life, no different to Eve herself. Someone the Talon had no reservations using her full strength against.

"Huh?" Vernal's head shifted upwards, just in time to catch the sight of Eve falling right towards her. The bull was overflowing with crimson in the same way her eyes were lit up blue...and that did not give any good vibes. Spring reacted in an instant, the one remaining half of Tempest she still held onto rising up for crescent blade to meet that sword in an attempt at a block. It wasn't nearly good enough. That incoming blow, fueled by the very lightning she called down...it tore right through Tempest like it was made out of paper instead of hardened metal, leaving only broken bits to plummet to the ground below. The slice shattered what remained of her aura(and the use of her semblance vanished with it), the blue energy shimmering around her before fading away into nothing. But she had been fast enough, reacted quick enough, moved just swift enough out of the way that the blow didn't sever her arm entirely.

Yet the difference was negligible.

Instead of taking the arm off, how Vernal had adjusted her position resulted in the blade carving its way across much of her arm, slicing a long gash into it. And deep too, something that was easily noticeable as Wilt had cut through the skin and muscles to largely expose the white bone underneath. It even scraped against the bone itself. Blood was spilling profusely from the wound, already covering a significant portion of her arm as Vernal looked at the wound in silence. It seemed she was taking it extremely well all things considered--

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

Oh there it was. Vernal howled up at the heavens in such pain and intensity that fire erupted out of her mouth almost like a volcano exploding, alongside the sound that threatened to shatter every window within at least a city block. By the time that deafening howl ceased, her arm hung limply at her side, practically useless in a fight now given how much it stung to even slightly move it. But she didn't fall to the ground, still managing to force herself to remain hovering despite the agony she felt jumping from nerve to nerve.

Her head gradually lowered to glare at Eve, a dangerous and enraged glint in those blue eyes so far beyond any other glare she'd ever given in her whole life. The ultimate staredown of Red vs Blue.

"You...you goddamn motherfucking masked I'm uncultured..." The hand that was not attached to that damaged arm, it clenched together so tightly that even her relatively short nails pierced into her auraless skin and drew trace amounts of blood. Not even the slightest attention was given to Hound as he continued to run his mouth, so murderously focused on Eve Taurus.​

She put a majority of the energy she absorbed into that one slash, but kept a bit on reserve to deliver a flurry of more glancing slashes to rake up and down her aura in the event the primary strike failed. Either way the bull landed, Wilt returned to its sheath with a smooth click as she straightened up and waited for Vernal to fall.

"You're right, you know. We're not that different at all."

"Oh yeah? You want to know one difference between us? ONLY ONE OF US IS GOING TO STILL BE ALIVE IN THE NEXT THIRTY FUCKING SECONDS!!" Vernal furiously snarled at the bull. In almost the blink of an eye, Vernal brought down the storm again. But instead of simply just a thunderstorm with some decent gusts of wind, this time Spring brought down as much of the forces of nature as she could. A full on calamity that was equal parts hurricane, thunderstorm, hailstorm, the whole fucking nine yards. Even tornados began to spring up in the mix, all of it fueled by the depths of her ABSOLUTELY raging fury she felt right then for the bull and every other Shadow Fang asshole nearby. Her 110% intent to obliterate them all, even if took laying waste to this part of the city to do it.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"You...you goddamn motherfucking masked I'm uncultured..." The hand that was not attached to that damaged arm, it clenched together so tightly that even her relatively short nails pierced into her auraless skin and drew trace amounts of blood. Not even the slightest attention was given to Hound as he continued to run his mouth, so murderously focused on Eve Taurus.

Eve landed in a half-crouch from her dive, Wilt already back in its sheath and completely unfazed by the harrowing wound she'd just inflicted as she straightened up and held a decidedly neutral glance on Vernal over her shoulder. "Lucky. You get to walk away with a scar instead of a prosthetic."

There was nothing savage or gleeful in the way she said it, but neither was there anything remorseful or sympathetic. Her lips curled in a grimace as the winds started to howl and Vernal prepared to take her pain and outrage out on the surroundings, momentarily breaking her razor-focus from the maiden to shield her eyes and assess the potential damage. Most of the civilian element had fled (obviously), but some had merely crowded into buildings nearby and were liable to get caught up in the destruction, while others still were still scattered intermittently with scrolls recording everything; wielded with such confidence one would've been forgiven for believing it made them bulletproof. Humans really were such idiots. There was even some old man flagrantly refusing to get the memo as he pottered down the streets towards them aimlessly, probably too senile and stubborn to deviate from his daily walk routine even with literal armageddon raining down on his neighborhood--

It was only when she saw him lunge that she realized. His stride was anything but aimless.

And it took glimpsing his face to understand that wasn't an old man.

"Oh yeah? You want to know one difference between us? ONLY ONE OF US IS GOING TO STILL BE ALIVE IN THE NEXT THIRTY FUCKING SECONDS!!" Vernal furiously snarled at the bull. In almost the blink of an eye, Vernal brought down the storm again. But instead of simply just a thunderstorm with some decent gusts of wind, this time Spring brought down as much of the forces of nature as she could. A full on calamity that was equal parts hurricane, thunderstorm, hailstorm, the whole fucking nine yards. Even tornados began to spring up in the mix, all of it fueled by the depths of her ABSOLUTELY raging fury she felt right then for the bull and every other Shadow Fang asshole nearby. Her 110% intent to obliterate them all, even if took laying waste to this part of the city to do it.

"That's quite enough of that."

Vernal felt the stern, authoritative growl in her ear the same instant she felt a claw-like fist jab into her lower spine and twist, instantly feeling a loss of sensation below her hips. Another hand was gripping the back of her head, almost politely turning it to better facilitate the impolite elbow that smashed into the side of her face, if successful depriving her of consciousness before she could even begin to wonder how this happened when she was hovering a good ten feet off the ground.

Assuming she didn't have any last-ditch tricks to play, her assailant landed silently from his ambush a moment later, quarry still held by a crushing grip around her head even as he bore her aloft for all to see.

"Attention, Talons."

There was a deep, gratified ring of familiarity in the way he said the word, a veteran sneer that spoke of past battles and victories riveting enough to bring a smile to the man's face.

"Your activity here during these trying times is unforgivable. Argus is Atlas's most important trading port, already in upheaval after recent calamities, and you degenerates were arrogant enough to believe a strike carried out in broad daylight would fly under the radar? That this was just going to be tolerated?"

He shook Vernal once for emphasis, and it was obvious in the way his smile deepened into a sneer that he found his next words greatly satisfying to speak.

"I know it might be optimistic of me to expect your kind to have a firm grasp of concepts like luck, but you should be thanking your lucky stars that I was the one tasked with fortifying our military's presence here in light of last month's tragedy. And you had damn well better be thankful for the chance I'm about to give you. In about two minutes my men will have this block completely surrounded; same thing applies for your little friends up the road. Take what you came here for-"

He turned and whipped Vernal dismissively across the street, letting her tumble to a stop at Hound's feet in a battered, crumpled heap.

"-and drag your mangy, flea-infested carcasses out of my city before I give into old vices and exterminate every last one of you pests myself. Like I said, you youngsters are lucky."

He turned his head and spat in Vernal's direction.

"We don't want her kind in Atlas any more than we want yours."

"YOU'RE DEAD-"

Eve's roar of feral outrage was enough to leave a metallic screech in their comms, but it was followed barely a moment later by interference and a yelp of pain as her voice betrayed how unprepared she really was to face this particular enemy (on multiple levels). Wilt had been sent spinning across the street by a parry so quick and technically complex Eve's mind was still catching up to it when she followed suit, repelled with enough violent enthusiasm to send her skidding to a limp stop next to it herself. She hadn't even seen him draw his sword. There was a pause following that, and his next words were brimming with a rage-infused eagerness, like he was at once furious and grateful for the hate he felt blowing his way.

"Is that really your final decision?"​

 

[Indolent]

When Gretchen saw Cinder round the corner, she noticed something the maiden had forgotten. Understandably so - with all the anger and fear in at war in her heart, and adrenaline pumping through her veins, something that wasn't in her direct line of sight was easy to forget. But Gretchen could see it plain as day; something that could've been mistaken for a stylish choker, except for the additional line of black ribbon trailing behind her. Not even six feet behind her Blake burst around the corner in a sliding stop, mask inscrutable as she held her weapon aloft




Whatever attack was launched at her, if any, she didn't even try to dodge. It struck an ephemeral form at the same time the real Blake came flying down from the rooftops above, deathly silent right up to the point her foot collided with the back of Gretchen's head. The streak of motion she was continued right past Gretchen at a downward diagonal, her sheathe-sword slicing across Cinder's knees as she slid past, before her foot wrapped the trailling ribbon around it and gave it a flick.

A bang echoed down the alleyway, and Gambol shroud came whirling through the air on a trajectory straight for Cinder's head at the same time Blake semblance dashed backwards in a spinning strike for Gretchen's neck, not a word spoken or even a sound uttered through through it all.

A set of events transpired concurrently, triggered by the cat faunus on two fronts.

Plus a few other things.

A series of bolts perforated along the corner edges of the alley Cinder had passed through to arrive where Gretchen stood activated in tandem with those rimming the topside in strategic positioning. Something of a preparatory aid on the tiny Rainart's part in anticipation of routing the Fall Maiden and by extension those in pursuit of towards her. It was the underlying cause to the confidence of earlier, a low keening from the bolts alerting Gretchen of the enemy presence in tandem with Brosel's direction as Dearth swiveled upwards for the nightshade, before they erupted. The compact explosions were a mix of a flashbang agent with a heavier emphasis on the bang rated for the sensitivities of faunus sensory faculties combined with earth dust, culminating in a cascade of blunt shrapnel not unlike that of the claymore anti-personnel mine. When the ordinance detonated, if Cinder glanced just for a moment, the stoat's tiny paws clamped his ears tautly shut.

The clone following Cinder definitely was obliterated as a result but whatever became of the ninja remained to be seen as a result of the obfuscating side effect inherent in the earth dust. It became so abundantly clear in the next instant a foot flying out for Gretchen's face that was barely avoided, connecting with the shoulder to elicit a shrill gasp and an angry grunt as the huntress swiveled to fire a blunt bolt for the faunus's back as she moved (?) to attack Cinder.

Somewhere in the mix of that all, she'd have cried for Cinder to keep moving.

 

[MyrtenRose]

"That's quite enough of that."

Vernal felt the stern, authoritative growl in her ear the same instant she felt a claw-like fist jab into her lower spine and twist, instantly feeling a loss of sensation below her hips. Another hand was gripping the back of her head, almost politely turning it to better facilitate the impolite elbow that smashed into the side of her face, if successful depriving her of consciousness before she could even begin to wonder how this happened when she was hovering a good ten feet off the ground.

Assuming she didn't have any last-ditch tricks to play, her assailant landed silently from his ambush a moment later, quarry still held by a crushing grip around her head even as he bore her aloft for all to see.

Wha--

That thought barely popped into her head before a sudden jab of pain cut it off. It felt like most of her lower half went numb and she'd barely managed to let out a cry of pain at it before the elbow slammed into her face at great speeds, knocking the fight out of her as the storm she'd begun to bring down started to gradually peter out. Yet...even that had not been enough to actually knock her out, Spring still managing to cling to consciousness despite the blows. Whether it was her anger needing to see Eve destroyed, or her need to not have Cinder throw it back into her face after all her rants about toughness, or simply just a plain refusal to go down...only she could say. But she was still conscious when Carnelian landed, nose dripping blood as he held her in his hand.​

"Your activity here during these trying times is unforgivable. Argus is Atlas's most important trading port, already in upheaval after recent calamities, and you degenerates were arrogant enough to believe a strike carried out in broad daylight would fly under the radar? That this was just going to be tolerated?"

He shook Vernal once for emphasis, and it was obvious in the way his smile deepened into a sneer that he found his next words greatly satisfying to speak.

There was a pained hiss that escaped her lips when he shook her like that, but given both how quiet it was and how his hand wrapped around her head, it was more or less inaudible to most.​

"I know it might be optimistic of me to expect your kind to have a firm grasp of concepts like luck, but you should be thanking your lucky stars that I was the one tasked with fortifying our military's presence here in light of last month's tragedy. And you had damn well better be thankful for the chance I'm about to give you. In about two minutes my men will have this block completely surrounded; same thing applies for your little friends up the road. Take what you came here for-"

He turned and whipped Vernal dismissively across the street, letting her tumble to a stop at Hound's feet in a battered, crumpled heap.

"-and drag your mangy, flea-infested carcasses out of my city before I give into old vices and exterminate every last one of you pests myself. Like I said, you youngsters are lucky."

She hit the concrete of the street with a loud thud, rolling and sliding across it until she slowed to a stop just as her head nudged Hound's boots. Her eyes were still open and she could hardly even bring herself to move most of her body, weak as she felt right now. She definitely did not have it within her to stand up, let alone defend herself further.​

Eve's roar of feral outrage was enough to leave a metallic screech in their comms, but it was followed barely a moment later by interference and a yelp of pain as her voice betrayed how unprepared she really was to face this particular enemy (on multiple levels). Wilt had been sent spinning across the street by a parry so quick and technically complex Eve's mind was still catching up to it when she followed suit, repelled with enough violent enthusiasm to send her skidding to a limp stop next to it herself. She hadn't even seen him draw his sword. There was a pause following that, and his next words were brimming with a rage-infused eagerness, like he was at once furious and grateful for the hate he felt blowing his way.

"Ha...ha..."

But her head had moved just enough to allow her to see that, and it got a bitter laugh out of her, Vernal taking some petty enjoyment out of Taurus getting hit like that. A laugh that died out quickly, however, as her eyes finally slid shut as she fell into unconsciousness, her losing fight against it having been decided at last. Hardly a second or two after that though, as Carnelian and Eve had their staredown, another voice made clear her presence. As soon as she did and whoever turned to look at the new arrival, were they not in the know they'd have found themselves struck by a rather perplexing scene, given who had just run off after that stoat. "No. I'll take her." The voice made clear that she was not asking but bluntly informing them all of the way this was going to go down from here.

"On behalf of the man who you are serving here, I will be the one taking the trash out of here. He deemed it so." She stated, already purposefully striding forward for the fallen form of Vernal yet staying well clear of Carnelian.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"Ha...ha..."

But her head had moved just enough to allow her to see that, and it got a bitter laugh out of her, Vernal taking some petty enjoyment out of Taurus getting hit like that. A laugh that died out quickly, however, as her eyes finally slid shut as she fell into unconsciousness, her losing fight against it having been decided at last. Hardly a second or two after that though, as Carnelian and Eve had their staredown, another voice made clear her presence. As soon as she did and whoever turned to look at the new arrival, were they not in the know they'd have found themselves struck by a rather perplexing scene, given who had just run off after that stoat. "No. I'll take her." The voice made clear that she was not asking but bluntly informing them all of the way this was going to go down from here.

"On behalf of the man who you are serving here, I will be the one taking the trash out of here. He deemed it so." She stated, already purposefully striding forward for the fallen form of Vernal yet staying well clear of Carnelian.

The general tracked this newcomer's progress with a skeptically raised eyebrow and amused bristle to his mustache. "Oh? Well, either way suits me fine."

Eve's reaction wasn't quite so accommodating. She was on her feet in an instant, deciding throwing herself into this wrinkle was the best way to dismiss the indignity of what just happened to her as she purposefully marched to cut Cinder off, Wilt snatched up to flick the tip in her direction. "I haven't heard anything about that. So why should I allow it?"

Her other finger went to her mask's earpiece, waiting to hear any kind of a confirmation from Blake with every word being picked up. Mighty sensitive receivers they had in the Shadow Fang.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

When Gretchen saw Cinder round the corner, she noticed something the maiden had forgotten. Understandably so - with all the anger and fear in at war in her heart, and adrenaline pumping through her veins, something that wasn't in her direct line of sight was easy to forget. But Gretchen could see it plain as day; something that could've been mistaken for a stylish choker, except for the additional line of black ribbon trailing behind her. Not even six feet behind her Blake burst around the corner in a sliding stop, mask inscrutable as she held her weapon aloft

This goddamn ribbon​

Whatever attack was launched at her, if any, she didn't even try to dodge. It struck an ephemeral form at the same time the real Blake came flying down from the rooftops above, deathly silent right up to the point her foot collided with the back of Gretchen's head. The streak of motion she was continued right past Gretchen at a downward diagonal, her sheathe-sword slicing across Cinder's knees as she slid past, before her foot wrapped the trailling ribbon around it and gave it a flick.

A bang echoed down the alleyway, and Gambol shroud came whirling through the air on a trajectory straight for Cinder's head at the same time Blake semblance dashed backwards in a spinning strike for Gretchen's neck, not a word spoken or even a sound uttered through it all

The low sword slice raked across Cinder's aura and took the still incredibly unbalanced teenage maiden off her feet thanks to the leg sweep. Before she could hit the ground back-first though, another fire thrust out her boots propelled her into a midair spin that ended with her landing solidly back on her feet and a slightly proud smile on her face that she had executed that maneuver properly this time, instead of using too much flame and sending herself way off course. Hitting that poor tree had hurt.

Then the situation caught back up with her and interrupted her prideful feeling. She groaned, rubbing at her head where that weapon had clonked her in the skull. Though she only did so briefly, re-focusing on the fight. She slammed her two blades back together into bow form, 3 dust arrows coalescing together in a nocked position.​

It became so abundantly clear in the next instant a foot flying out for Gretchen's face that was barely avoided, connecting with the shoulder to elicit a shrill gasp and an angry grunt as the huntress swiveled to fire a blunt bolt for the faunus's back as she moved (?) to attack Cinder.

Somewhere in the mix of that all, she'd have cried for Cinder to keep moving.

She waited to see how Gretchen's bolt hit Blake or rather, she suspected, would hit what appeared to be Blake. However that went, Cinder loosed all 3 arrows wherever the cat faunus ended up being. The middle of the three arrows went directly for the Shadow Fang enforcer but the other two seemed to veer off from the cat's position the further they flew through the air.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

Eve's reaction wasn't quite so accommodating. She was on her feet in an instant, deciding throwing herself into this wrinkle was the best way to dismiss the indignity of what just happened to her as she purposefully marched to cut Cinder off, Wilt snatched up to flick in her direction. "I haven't heard anything about that. So why should I allow it?"

Her other finger went to her mask's earpiece, waiting to hear any kind of a confirmation from Blake with every word being picked up. Mighty sensitive receivers they had in the Shadow Fang.

"Allow?" Like the currently knocked out Spring, Cinder apparently found Eve quite humorous. Though with her it was less bitter laughing and more an amused snicker.

"You are in no position to allow or deny anything. I've brought a Taurus to heel before, I have no problem with doing it again." Cinder snapped back, unflinchingly staring down Eve as her eye flared out an orange glow in the same manner Vernal's had just recently been with blue. She let the bull faunus take a good long look before she continued less confrontationally regardless. "Beaten down or not, Vernal here-" Cinder spat out that name with a certain amount of disgust, her eye likewise glancing down at the criminal, revealing just the slightest hint of some familiarity with the unconscious target. "-is still a you-know-what. You saw the storm she'd been about to bring down on all of you. Who better to transport her than another one?" She asked, eyebrow quirking up as she pointed out the logic.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

The bolt ricocheted off a quick slash of the sheathe blade, Blake’s eyes locking onto Cinder’s as the young maiden nocked her arrows. The shots flew, and the center one actually came to a halt instead of flying down the alleyway in a clean miss. Blake’s hand gripped the shaft in the middle, the tip scant inches away from her face and its dust payload still hissing as she kept Cinder’s gaze, and finally gave the fall maiden and her surprise reinforcements her first word of acknowledgement.

“Enough”

The haft snapped in her hands as she clenched it into a fist, and standing where she’d been was a fiery facsimile of her right before it exploded, igniting the arrow’s head at the same time. It was a dangerous action in and of itself, but what it most importantly did was cut the two young huntresses off from each other, and making the path between Cinder and the arrows she’d just fired past Blake a treacherous one.

She didn’t even have time to consider that before Blake tore out of the flames like a demon, her blade ramming straight into Cinder’s gut. The Right Hand of the fang was no longer testing the waters; The next strike came before Cinder could even think as something hit her across the chin like a rocket, sending her spinning into the air before the air supply was suddenly ripped out of her lungs again as her makeshift leash jerked her even further upwards. By the time the flames cleared in front of Gretchen, the maiden and shadow fang were gone.

One last Tug ended with Cinder’s head careening into Blake’s outstretched hand from where they were on a nearby roof, her fingers clawing into Cinder’s hair before slamming the side of her head against the brick of a nearby wall hard enough to crack it, then smashing straight through it with a repeat.

“You weren’t even supposed to be here. But if Salem’s pet maiden is still trying to get in Lord Ozpin’s way-”

While she was still half buried in the wall, a foot slammed into her knee and rather than pulling away after the kick, kept a violent pressure on it till the miserable sound of a joint coming out of place filled the air.

“-then she dies.”

Only then did the violence in the air fade even a little bit, the hostile intent that had been overloading CInder’s aura with danger from every direction ever since that ribbon first came around her neck. She let go of the maiden hair so she could start to go slack before she pulled her upright with the ribbon, glaring into her eyes as she put Gambol's blade against her throat....

Eve landed in a half-crouch from her dive, Wilt already back in its sheath and completely unfazed by the harrowing wound she'd just inflicted as she straightened up and held a decidedly neutral glance on Vernal over her shoulder. "Lucky. You get to walk away with a scar instead of a prosthetic."

There was nothing savage or gleeful in the way she said it, but neither was there anything remorseful or sympathetic. Her lips curled in a grimace as the winds started to howl and Vernal prepared to take her pain and outrage out on the surroundings, momentarily breaking her razor-focus from the maiden to shield her eyes and assess the potential damage. Most of the civilian element had fled (obviously), but some had merely crowded into buildings nearby and were liable to get caught up in the destruction, while others still were still scattered intermittently with scrolls recording everything; wielded with such confidence one would've been forgiven for believing it made them bulletproof. Humans really were such idiots. There was even some old man flagrantly refusing to get the memo as he pottered down the streets towards them aimlessly, probably too senile and stubborn to deviate from his daily walk routine even with literal armageddon raining down on his neighborhood--

It was only when she saw him lunge that she realized. His stride was anything but aimless.

And it took glimpsing his face to understand that wasn't an old man.





"That's quite enough of that."

Vernal felt the stern, authoritative growl in her ear the same instant she felt a claw-like fist jab into her lower spine and twist, instantly feeling a loss of sensation below her hips. Another hand was gripping the back of her head, almost politely turning it to better facilitate the impolite elbow that smashed into the side of her face, if successful depriving her of consciousness before she could even begin to wonder how this happened when she was hovering a good ten feet off the ground.

Assuming she didn't have any last-ditch tricks to play, her assailant landed silently from his ambush a moment later, quarry still held by a crushing grip around her head even as he bore her aloft for all to see.

"Attention, Talons."

There was a deep, gratified ring of familiarity in the way he said the word, a veteran sneer that spoke of past battles and victories riveting enough to bring a smile to the man's face.

"Your activity here during these trying times is unforgivable. Argus is Atlas's most important trading port, already in upheaval after recent calamities, and you degenerates were arrogant enough to believe a strike carried out in broad daylight would fly under the radar? That this was just going to be tolerated?"

He shook Vernal once for emphasis, and it was obvious in the way his smile deepened into a sneer that he found his next words greatly satisfying to speak.

"I know it might be optimistic of me to expect your kind to have a firm grasp of concepts like luck, but you should be thanking your lucky stars that I was the one tasked with fortifying our military's presence here in light of last month's tragedy. And you had damn well better be thankful for the chance I'm about to give you. In about two minutes my men will have this block completely surrounded; same thing applies for your little friends up the road. Take what you came here for-"

He turned and whipped Vernal dismissively across the street, letting her tumble to a stop at Hound's feet in a battered, crumpled heap.

"-and drag your mangy, flea-infested carcasses out of my city before I give into old vices and exterminate every last one of you pests myself. Like I said, you youngsters are lucky."

He turned his head and spat in Vernal's direction.

"We don't want her kind in Atlas any more than we want yours."

"YOU'RE DEAD-"

Eve's roar of feral outrage was enough to leave a metallic screech in their comms, but it was followed barely a moment later by interference and a yelp of pain as her voice betrayed how unprepared she really was to face this particular enemy (on multiple levels). Wilt had been sent spinning across the street by a parry so quick and technically complex Eve's mind was still catching up to it when she followed suit, repelled with enough violent enthusiasm to send her skidding to a limp stop next to it herself. She hadn't even seen him draw his sword. There was a pause following that, and his next words were brimming with a rage-infused eagerness, like he was at once furious and grateful for the hate he felt blowing his way.

"Is that really your final decision?"​

"...Raptor. Report." Blake growled into her mask, still glaring into Cinder's eyes, ready to flick her wrist at the slightest movement.

"Yes'ma'am. Seems Argus did a few infrastructure changes during its rebuilding. Didn't seem em comin. Could buy you an extra two, maybe 3 minutes if I really unloaded."

"That's all?"

"That's my guess, anyways; Snake's last intel drop said the aceops were gettin shipped out a week ago. Bettin we can guess where now, ma'am."

Blake's grip tightened on her weapon. Whatever was running through her mind had her breath come out in a low, frustrated growl that was far more the animal than human in her, and Cinder felt the blade gently press against her throat as Blake pulled her in close.

"...This time, little maiden. I don't care if you get why. This time you live. But get in the way of the faunus again, in my way again, and I will finish this; you will get what every single one of your kind deserves, for all the pain you've given us. I will fix this world; even if we have to burn it to the ground to do it."

She let go so Cinder could collapse to the roof, and with a gentle twist of her wrist and a pull the ribbon that had been an inescapable chain in Blake's hands came loose from her neck with ease.

"Wolf. You're up. Time for us to go."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Vernal brought forth the storm of vengeance, Hound rested his spear across his shoulders and gave a long, frustrated sigh. "Jeez. I can't fight that. We can't fight that. Ugh. Fine." He cracked his neck to one side then the other, before he suddenly flared with power, his light blue aura licking off of him like flames and his face contorting into a wholly out of place, entirely serious frown. "No fun this way, but if that's the way its gotta go, mutt..."

He spun the spear into one hand and took a stance that absolutely radiated power as the winds started howl and the earth began to shake, prepared to throw his weapon into the rage of the elements and blessed with an absolutely surety of the result. "Then at LEAST IT'LL BE-"

"That's quite enough of that."

Vernal felt the stern, authoritative growl in her ear the same instant she felt a claw-like fist jab into her lower spine and twist, instantly feeling a loss of sensation below her hips. Another hand was gripping the back of her head, almost politely turning it to better facilitate the impolite elbow that smashed into the side of her face, if successful depriving her of consciousness before she could even begin to wonder how this happened when she was hovering a good ten feet off the ground.

Assuming she didn't have any last-ditch tricks to play, her assailant landed silently from his ambush a moment later, quarry still held by a crushing grip around her head even as he bore her aloft for all to see.

"Attention, Talons."

There was a deep, gratified ring of familiarity in the way he said the word, a veteran sneer that spoke of past battles and victories riveting enough to bring a smile to the man's face.

"Your activity here during these trying times is unforgivable. Argus is Atlas's most important trading port, already in upheaval after recent calamities, and you degenerates were arrogant enough to believe a strike carried out in broad daylight would fly under the radar? That this was just going to be tolerated?"

He shook Vernal once for emphasis, and it was obvious in the way his smile deepened into a sneer that he found his next words greatly satisfying to speak.

"I know it might be optimistic of me to expect your kind to have a firm grasp of concepts like luck, but you should be thanking your lucky stars that I was the one tasked with fortifying our military's presence here in light of last month's tragedy. And you had damn well better be thankful for the chance I'm about to give you. In about two minutes my men will have this block completely surrounded; same thing applies for your little friends up the road. Take what you came here for-"

He turned and whipped Vernal dismissively across the street, letting her tumble to a stop at Hound's feet in a battered, crumpled heap.

"-and drag your mangy, flea-infested carcasses out of my city before I give into old vices and exterminate every last one of you pests myself. Like I said, you youngsters are lucky."

He turned his head and spat in Vernal's direction.

"We don't want her kind in Atlas any more than we want yours."

"...Nevermind."

Hound deflated, his spear spinning to rest across his back again once more as he rested his weight on one foot and glowered at Carnelian, not even trying to meet the general's controlled fury halfway. Whatever the history, the weight of the Talons being across from General Carnelian once again had, it was totally lost on the dog Faunus.

"Woooow. Big bad general Carl in the flesh, eh? Y'shorter in person. To think, you came all the way to Argus..." He squated down next to vernal and nudged her gently with the butt of his spear for signs of life, before he tilted his gaze back up to Carnelian with a toothy smirk. "...just to finish our work for us and let us be on our way! Big bad Carl, too afraid to take on a few mangy, flea infested youngsters without backup? Gettin slow in your old age!" Hound cackled and planted his boot on Vernals back as he stood up, slowly building his own excitement for the hunt back up.

"Two minutes? I'd kill you in half that, old man! So why don't you just-"

Wha--

That thought barely popped into her head before a sudden jab of pain cut it off. It felt like most of her lower half went numb and she'd barely managed to let out a cry of pain at it before the elbow slammed into her face at great speeds, knocking the fight out of her as the storm she'd begun to bring down started to gradually peter out. Yet...even that had not been enough to actually knock her out, Spring still managing to cling to consciousness despite the blows. Whether it was her anger needing to see Eve destroyed, or her need to not have Cinder throw it back into her face after all her rants about toughness, or simply just a plain refusal to go down...only she could say. But she was still conscious when Carnelian landed, nose dripping blood as he held her in his hand.



There was a pained hiss that escaped her lips when he shook her like that, but given both how quiet it was and how his hand wrapped around her head, it was more or less inaudible to most.



She hit the concrete of the street with a loud thud, rolling and sliding across it until she slowed to a stop just as her head nudged Hound's boots. Her eyes were still open and she could hardly even bring herself to move most of her body, weak as she felt right now. She definitely did not have it within her to stand up, let alone defend herself further.


"Ha...ha..."

But her head had moved just enough to allow her to see that, and it got a bitter laugh out of her, Vernal taking some petty enjoyment out of Taurus getting hit like that. A laugh that died out quickly, however, as her eyes finally slid shut as she fell into unconsciousness, her losing fight against it having been decided at last. Hardly a second or two after that though, as Carnelian and Eve had their staredown, another voice made clear her presence. As soon as she did and whoever turned to look at the new arrival, were they not in the know they'd have found themselves struck by a rather perplexing scene, given who had just run off after that stoat. "No. I'll take her." The voice made clear that she was not asking but bluntly informing them all of the way this was going to go down from here.

"On behalf of the man who you are serving here, I will be the one taking the trash out of here. He deemed it so." She stated, already purposefully striding forward for the fallen form of Vernal yet staying well clear of Carnelian.​

"Wait. What?"

His head tilted towards Cinder, a perplexed frown on his face as he studied her. She looked like... "Ooh. You're that one."

The general tracked this newcomer's progress with a skeptically raised eyebrow and amused bristle to his mustache. "Oh? Well, either way suits me fine."

Eve's reaction wasn't quite so accommodating. She was on her feet in an instant, deciding throwing herself into this wrinkle was the best way to dismiss the indignity of what just happened to her as she purposefully marched to cut Cinder off, Wilt snatched up to flick the tip in her direction. "I haven't heard anything about that. So why should I allow it?"

Her other finger went to her mask's earpiece, waiting to hear any kind of a confirmation from Blake with every word being picked up. Mighty sensitive receivers they had in the Shadow Fang.

"Allow?" Like the currently knocked out Spring, Cinder apparently found Eve quite humorous. Though with her it was less bitter laughing and more an amused snicker.

"You are in no position to allow or deny anything. I've brought a Taurus to heel before, I have no problem with doing it again." Cinder snapped back, unflinchingly staring down Eve as her eye flared out an orange glow in the same manner Vernal's had just recently been with blue. She let the bull faunus take a good long look before she continued less confrontationally regardless. "Beaten down or not, Vernal here-" Cinder spat out that name with a certain amount of disgust, her eye likewise glancing down at the criminal, revealing just the slightest hint of some familiarity with the unconscious target. "-is still a you-know-what. You saw the storm she'd been about to bring down on all of you. Who better to transport her than another one?" She asked, eyebrow quirking up as she pointed out the logic.​

"And I have no problem with cutting down my second Fall for the day, human!"



The mechanical beast that came roaring over the rooftops was to an Atlesian Manta what a Nevermore was to a crow. Sleek black curves ended in sharp points, and where a Manta's missile racks would sit instead sat a pair of strange, almost archaic looking gun turrets, and its engines were burning with enough force to kick debris from the travesty that had overtaken this corner of Argus. Blake hung loosely from the side of open entry hatch, halfway free into the sky with the wind whipping across her hair and robes as she stared the far more dangerous Fall Maiden down.

She didn't look at her any different than she had the younger one; the same cold hate, the same fiery zeal, the same utter disregard for her as a living being, as anything other than a particularly lethal obstacle. One that just happened to be ostensibly on her side.

"The day I take one of your kind at your word is far off, and the day I take an order from one is the day I die. If he didn't think that I was capable of the task, he wouldn't have given it to me. Stand down, or we'll destroy our third maiden today."

She didn't trust a single word out of Cinder's mouth, and her ultimatum carried the weight of the absolute; If Ozpin punished her for it, so be it. But there wasn't a human on Remnant she'd trust with a maiden's power, even one that already had it for herself. If Cinder wanted to pick a fight over it with the Atlesian army breathing down their necks, then it was a fight Blake would take, and it was clear in her tone that it was a fight she thought they could win; whether that was dangerous, foolhardy overconfidence or the swift judgement of an apex predator sizing up a rival would have to be seen if Cinder decided it was worth the attempt

"Talons, we have what we came for; If the general is wise enough not to fight, we oblige him, this time. move out!"

Hound's eye twitched as he stared hard at Carnelian, but eventually he sighed."...Tch Cowardly bullshit. Fine. And hey, In layman's terms, basically what the boss lady said was-" Hound grunted as he knelt down to heave Vernal over her shoulders while he shot Cinder a sharp grin "-eat shit."

He leaped into the air and pushed off a nearby building on an angle for the airship's hatch.

Blake turned her gaze over to Carnelian in the interim, her eyes locking onto his even from the distance. She slowly reached up and pulled the mask down from her face; it wasn't something she wore to protect her identity. At this point the name Belladonna was known, all that she'd done and all that she promised to do. These next words for him and him alone, rather than the verbal power plays interwoven with commands for her people. She doubted his old age had left him any less capable of picking out her words from this distance, not with those eyes.

"...Whatever your game is, go ahead and keep playing it. Keep acting the loyal dog, and we'll keep out of your way too. But we're always watching. And all the military might, all the skill, the strength, the resolve, all the experience in the world won't save you or your master when you finally stop toeing the line. Not from us. Not from me."

 

[MyrtenRose]

The mechanical beast that came roaring over the rooftops was to an Atlesian Manta what a Nevermore was to a crow. Sleek black curves ended in sharp points, and where a Manta's missile racks would sit instead sat a pair of strange, almost archaic looking gun turrets, and its engines were burning with enough force to kick debris from the travesty that had overtaken this corner of Argus. Blake hung loosely from the side of open entry hatch, halfway free into the sky with the wind whipping across her hair and robes as she stared the far more dangerous Fall Maiden down.

She didn't look at her any different than she had the younger one; the same cold hate, the same fiery zeal, the same utter disregard for her as a living being, as anything other than a particularly lethal obstacle. One that just happened to be ostensibly on her side.

"The day I take one of your kind at your word is far off, and the day I take an order from one is the day I die. If he didn't think that I was capable of the task, he wouldn't have given it to me. Stand down, or we'll destroy our third maiden today."

She didn't trust a single word out of Cinder's mouth, and her ultimatum carried the weight of the absolute; If Ozpin punished her for it, so be it. But there wasn't a human on Remnant she'd trust with a maiden's power, even one that already had it for herself. If Cinder wanted to pick a fight over it with the Atlesian army breathing down their necks, then it was a fight Blake would take, and it was clear in her tone that it was a fight she thought they could win; whether that was dangerous, foolhardy overconfidence or the swift judgement of an apex predator sizing up a rival would have to be seen if Cinder decided it was worth the attempt

"...Have it your way." Cinder replied with a rather polite tone as she seemed to relent, not looking to argue any more about it. She didn't want to waste any more words on the animals than was strictly necessary.​

Hound's eye twitched as he stared hard at Carnelian, but eventually he sighed."...Tch Cowardly bullshit. Fine. And hey, In layman's terms, basically what the boss lady said was-" Hound grunted as he knelt down to heave Vernal over her shoulders while he shot Cinder a sharp grin "-eat shit."

He leaped into the air and pushed off a nearby building on an angle for the airship's hatch.

But that didn't mean she was going to just accept this. She had no more desire for a prolonged engagement than Blake did, with whatever Atlesian reinforcements Carnelian had coming in. Which is precisely why she didn't go for something that she didn't believe would leave them a chance to fight back. Four things happened, all done in such swift succession that they appeared nearly simultaneous. First, Hound didn't make it into the airship hatch. In mid-air, with very little time to do anything about it, he found his body rapidly freezing over. Yet before the ice fully crept over and completely froze the Shadow Fang soldier, the second thing was there was a sharp tug as a suddenly much longer and unnatural arm yanked Vernal from him in the blink of an eye before she became just as much a frozen statue as Hound did. Third, a fireball shot out of Cinder's other palm towards Eve, so strong and so swiftly that with the short amount of distance between them, it hit before the bull could react and knocked her back. Fourth, strong gusts of winds, while not as intense as what Spring had bringing out, were more than enough to give the airship some heavy turbulence and push it further and further away to keep it from easy pursuit.

With Spring now on her shoulder instead of that foolish mutt's, Cinder directed a superior yet only briefly lasting smile over at Blake.

Her eye shifted towards Hound. "Might want to catch him before he falls and shatters, kitty." Cinder mockingly warned the faunus before she immediately blasted off with Spring in tow, trusting that so long as she made no move to attack him personally or cause unnecessary damage to the city of Argus, Carnelian wouldn't step in and get involved with a matter strictly between them. Thick mists rolled in all around her as the older Fall Maiden shot through the sky. The fog was so unnaturally thick, so obscuring, that even the fire jets that allowed Cinder to fly weren't visible to anything or anybody who wasn't within ten feet of her.​

 

[MidwayLives]

"I don't care." Came the abrupt interjection in the middle of Tiger's second sentence, spelling out the death knell for the third.

"Heh."

Tiger simply smirked in response.
​

A series of grunts cemented his status as not a casualty, the Mistralian working his way out through mess overlaying his body with little issue, finally emerging onto the street once more. He took the moment to make a point of brushing himself off, noting the lack of the earth that had encased his arm prior, every speck of dust and vegetable expelled from his person. Every fiber of his being compelled him to redouble his efforts, rejoin the battle and bury Tiger under an unrelenting assault; it was almost a second battle he waged internally. His eyes had been closed as he cleaned himself off, resisting the urge with the recognition of earlier well in mind. When they opened, a brown swirled within the sclera of his eyes, surrounding hazel irises, that grew in intensity as the dust circulated through his body. The craggy rock on his right reemerged as Hazel stared down Tiger, his body itching to undertake great violence that he disallowed.

"I didn't feel that one." His words came, his tone that of baiting condescension.

"Hehe....Hahahaha!"

It was rare enough that Tiger ever smiled and she'd done that twice on this mission.

It was rarer still that she laughed.

This stranger wasn't simply trying to reassure himself that things would be okay. That he could muster up the strength to win if she simply expelled cocky words.

Tiger had seen fools like that. All sound and fury signifying nothing.

She humiliated them and sent them on their way.

Anybody who talked a bigger game than they could ever hope to back up wasn't worth staining herself with their blood.

'I've not yet had a chance to look upon you with my eyes, stranger. Know that you've genuinely made me happy. I'll enjoy putting you down.'

Tiger took a step forward and the ground trembled under the sole of her boot.

She'd approvimaxted the distance that her punch had pushed back her opponent, thanks to her handy ears.

Swinging her left arm off to the side with a bit more oomph this time, the ground in front of her seemed to positively erupt. Debris went flying off to the side as the force behind her swing alone was on it's way towards Hazel. Her opening act played, Tiger played the odds over in her head. Would he try tanking it again like he had her punch? Would he attempt to dodge and so to which side? Her ears twitched in anticipation.

Whatever Hazel ended up deciding to do, Tiger braced herself and jumped up high. Leaving the spot where she'd previously been standing a miniature crater. For the brief moments that she was airborne, she felt...relieved. The wind blowing through her hair, gliding across her face, an opponent who wasn't all talk. It was...nice.

Shame that she'd have to kill them.

Rearing her left hand back and closing it up into a fist, the muscles shifted and bulged. Over the years she'd gained enough fine control over her semblance that she could control what parts of her body got beefed up. Most of the time she went for all of it but in cases like this? She could just boost a limb for just a bit of extra gusto in a punch.

She came crashing down with her arm cocked back to smash right into Hazel.
​

"You...you goddamn motherfucking masked I'm uncultured..." The hand that was not attached to that damaged arm, it clenched together so tightly that even her relatively short nails pierced into her auraless skin and drew trace amounts of blood. Not even the slightest attention was given to Hound as he continued to run his mouth, so murderously focused on Eve Taurus.

As the punch came in, Tiger opened her eyes and....

She could see!

....She could see??

What had happened to her and Hound was likely due to the maiden's semblance.

For it's effect to wear off means that the Bull and Hand had did their part.

This mission was over.

...Huh.

As she finally looked over Hazel, she didn't have any strong feelings one way or the other. What he looked like didn't really matter.

It was his conviction.
​

"Oh yeah? You want to know one difference between us? ONLY ONE OF US IS GOING TO STILL BE ALIVE IN THE NEXT THIRTY FUCKING SECONDS!!" Vernal furiously snarled at the bull. In almost the blink of an eye, Vernal brought down the storm again. But instead of simply just a thunderstorm with some decent gusts of wind, this time Spring brought down as much of the forces of nature as she could. A full on calamity that was equal parts hurricane, thunderstorm, hailstorm, the whole fucking nine yards. Even tornados began to spring up in the mix, all of it fueled by the depths of her ABSOLUTELY raging fury she felt right then for the bull and every other Shadow Fang asshole nearby. Her 110% intent to obliterate them all, even if took laying waste to this part of the city to do it.

Before Tiger's punch could land, a lightning bolt crashing down mere feet away from where Hazel had been standing caught her attention.

She landed but her suped up punch was a few inches off the mark. The force behind it went careening over Hazel's shoulder threatening to pull him right off his feet as it left nearly a mile long crevice in the street behind him.

"Tch..."

If Tiger were to give Vernal anything it was an unwillingness to surrender.

She could respect that.

Still, weakened as she was, Vernal had once again moved back up the list of priorities. Focusing her energy into her right hand's thumb and forefinger, Tiger let loose a barrage of air bullets to keep Hazel at bay after the punch that went awry. A couple shots flew past him to destroy some debris that had been threatening to fall on some innocent bystanders as well. No need for them to die. They hadn't been the ones fighting.

'You deserve better than this but time's not on my side, unfortunately.' Tiger mused to herself.
​

"That's quite enough of that."

...Why was he here?

Taking a leap back to put some distance between herself and Hazel, she kept her eyes on him just in case the huntsman attempted to continue their aborted fight.

Tiger had heard stories of Carneilan and his brutality. What faunus worth a damn hadn't?

She would have loved to have tested her strength against his. Someone to finally unleash 100% of her power on.

Today simply wasn't the day.

She would have relaxed her semblance and let her muscles 'deflate' and return to normal but-
​

But her head had moved just enough to allow her to see that, and it got a bitter laugh out of her, Vernal taking some petty enjoyment out of Taurus getting hit like that. A laugh that died out quickly, however, as her eyes finally slid shut as she fell into unconsciousness, her losing fight against it having been decided at last. Hardly a second or two after that though, as Carnelian and Eve had their staredown, another voice made clear her presence. As soon as she did and whoever turned to look at the new arrival, were they not in the know they'd have found themselves struck by a rather perplexing scene, given who had just run off after that stoat. "No. I'll take her." The voice made clear that she was not asking but bluntly informing them all of the way this was going to go down from here.

"You can take a hike to hell."

She wasn't great at snarky quips.

But they'd earned this. Not to leave it to another of Ozpin's dogs.

.....Dogs who followed orders obediently? Isn't that what Tock had thought of her and Hound?

Hm.
​

"Talons, we have what we came for; If the general is wise enough not to fight, we oblige him, this time. move out!"

Whatever faults Belladonna might have had, Tiger had one thing she needed to admit.

Belladonna was a damn good leader.

"Sorry."

It was al lthat was said to Hazel as she finally broke eye contact with him and simply turned to walk away.

Their business was done here.

Tiger wasn't worried though. She had a feeling she'd see this stranger again.
​

But that didn't mean she was going to just accept this. She had no more desire for a prolonged engagement than Blake did, with whatever Atlesian reinforcements Carnelian had coming in. Which is precisely why she didn't go for something that she didn't believe would leave them a chance to fight back. Four things happened, all done in such swift succession that they appeared nearly simultaneous. First, Hound didn't make it into the airship hatch. In mid-air, with very little time to do anything about it, he found his body rapidly freezing over. Yet before the ice fully crept over and completely froze the Shadow Fang soldier, the second thing was there was a sharp tug as a suddenly much longer and unnatural arm yanked Vernal from him in the blink of an eye before she became just as much a frozen statue as Hound did. Third, a fireball shot out of Cinder's other palm towards Eve, so strong and so swiftly that with the short amount of distance between them that it hit before the bull could react. Fourth, strong gusts of winds, while not as intense as what Spring had bringing out, were more than enough to give the airship some heavy turbulence and push it further and further away to keep it from easy pursuit.

Tiger didn't much care for Hound.

Friends, acquaintances, all meaningless guff to her.

All that mattered was what she was told to do and accomplishing it.

That didn't mean she wanted the dog to die.

Nobody had ever seen her at full power, she wondered if she could go beyond even what she believed her 'limit' to be.

The only people here she deemed worthy of unleashing it on were the maidens and Carneilan himself.

But right now Hound needed it most.

Tiger's body seemed to deflate, returning to it's 'normal' lean state but she was anything but normal.

The miasma engulfed her and what came out of it was an inhuman abomination.

Her pants were torn to shreds, her boots were scraps, and it was a miracle her chest remained covered at all(for courtesy's sake if nothing else) and she looked less like a living thing and more a walking representation of muscle.

Or 'Absolute Strength' as she liked to put it.

Bursting forward even as the savage winds raged on, Tiger roared as she tried to reach Hound in time to catch him.

"RRRRRRRRAAAAAGHHHHHHHH!!!!! 100%!!!!!" ​

 

[MyrtenRose]

The bolt ricocheted off a quick slash of the sheathe blade, Blake’s eyes locking onto Cinder’s as the young maiden nocked her arrows. The shots flew, and the center one actually came to a halt instead of flying down the alleyway in a clean miss. Blake’s hand gripped the shaft in the middle, the tip scant inches away from her face and its dust payload still hissing as she kept Cinder’s gaze, and finally gave the fall maiden and her surprise reinforcements her first word of acknowledgement.

“Enough”

The haft snapped in her hands as she clenched it into a fist, and standing where she’d been was a fiery facsimile of her right before it exploded, igniting the arrow’s head at the same time. It was a dangerous action in and of itself, but what it most importantly did was cut the two young huntresses off from each other, and making the path between Cinder and the arrows she’d just fired past Blake a treacherous one.

"..." Okay that was cool to see. Completely, totally, utterly unfair, as unfair as unfair can get in all its unfairness, but undeniably cool. Also not good for the young fall maiden.​

She didn’t even have time to consider that before Blake tore out of the flames like a demon, her blade ramming straight into Cinder’s gut. The Right Hand of the fang was no longer testing the waters; The next strike came before Cinder could even think as something hit her across the chin like a rocket, sending her spinning into the air before the air supply was suddenly ripped out of her lungs again as her makeshift leash jerked her even further upwards. By the time the flames cleared in front of Gretchen, the maiden and shadow fang were gone.

She didn't even have time to fully Eeeeeeeek in her mind as Blake came rushing in, Cinder's eyes widening in fright as Blake darted out like an inhuman shadow temporarily wreathed in flames. The hit to her gut forced her doubled over, yet she didn't have a chance to so much as gasp before a follow up strike whipped across her jaw and ended with the still attached infernal ribbon jerked her upwards still. Between the blade gut punch and that, the amounts of air within her was running dangerously low.​

One last Tug ended with Cinder’s head careening into Blake’s outstretched hand from where they were on a nearby roof, her fingers clawing into Cinder’s hair before slamming the side of her head against the brick of a nearby wall hard enough to crack it, then smashing straight through it with a repeat.

“You weren’t even supposed to be here. But if Salem’s pet maiden is still trying to get in Lord Ozpin’s way-”

While she was still half buried in the wall, a foot slammed into her knee and rather than pulling away after the kick, kept a violent pressure on it till the miserable sound of a joint coming out of place filled the air.

“-then she dies.”

Only then did the violence in the air fade even a little bit, the hostile intent that had been overloading CInder’s aura with danger from every direction ever since that ribbon first came around her neck. She let go of the maiden hair so she could start to go slack before she pulled her upright with the ribbon, glaring into her eyes as she put Gambol's blade against her throat....

Even the relatively minor pain of fingers gripping tightly on her short hair was enough to make Cinder cry out. It didn't compare to what followed though, as her skull smashed into brick with enough force to crack the solid stone and then again that to go right through it so hard that the teenager briefly glimpsed stars in her vision. Soft whimpers escaped Cinder's mouth after both blows as she was left in a position that didn't give her any opportunity to fight back. She could only manage to express the fear and the pain that was swimming in her single golden eye.

Then the fear lessened and the pain evident in that eye increased by a substantial amount, Cinder letting out a pained wail as she felt and heard her knee dislocating under the abuse from the faunus. It hurt so bad that despite repeating the mantra I have to be tougher, I have to be stronger in her head, something Vernal had tried to force into her, Cinder couldn't keep a tear from seeping out of her eye and down her face as she yelled with the pain.​

“-then she dies.”

Only then did the violence in the air fade even a little bit, the hostile intent that had been overloading CInder’s aura with danger from every direction ever since that ribbon first came around her neck. She let go of the maiden hair so she could start to go slack before she pulled her upright with the ribbon, glaring into her eyes as she put Gambol's blade against her throat....

"P-please..." Cinder forced out weakly when she could, eye looking to Blake with absolute pleading written all over it, her pupil shifting all over the cat's face in a desperate search for anything remotely resembling mercy in the faunus' face. "...please d-don't..." Cinder begged, not wanting to die here. Not at her age, and not like this...​

Blake's grip tightened on her weapon. Whatever was running through her mind had her breath come out in a low, frustrated growl that was far more the animal than human in her, and Cinder felt the blade gently press against her throat as Blake pulled her in close.

"...This time, little maiden. I don't care if you get why. This time you live. But get in the way of the faunus again, in my way again, and I will finish this; you will get what every single one of your kind deserves, for all the pain you've given us. I will fix this world; even if we have to burn it to the ground to do it."

She let go so Cinder could collapse to the roof, and with a gentle twist of her wrist and a pull the ribbon that had been an inescapable chain in Blake's hands came loose from her neck with ease.

Her eye had slid to nearly fully shut when the Shadow Fang lieutenant pulled her in, Cinder dreading what might come next. She hadn't been able to find any mercy in that expression. Even Blake's breathing sounded full of animalistic anger. She listened carefully to the words, trying to contain her sniveling in this close proximity. Relief shot through her whole body in waves when Blake declared that she wouldn't die here, but the teenager didn't allow herself to visibly relax, concerned that it might have set her off the faunus despite her words.

Once she was released from the clutches of the faunus and she dropped to the roof below, a few more sniffles came out as she rested there, her eye sliding back to completely open and looking up at Blake.​

"Wolf. You're up. Time for us to go."

Before Blake departed, Cinder managed to cough out some words. It wasn't some angry declaration of that all the pain she had just endured, she would pay back onto the faunus. It wasn't any hateful slur or mocking insult, or anything close to that. It was nothing but a few simple curious, concerned questions. Despite all that she had just been put through, despite having a justification to look at the cat faunus with disgust or rage or frustration or a mix of so many negative feelings, Cinder just...didn't. The things visible in that single golden eye were more along the lines of sympathy. Concern. Compassion. Thoughtful empathy.

And above all else, a desire to understand.

"What...what did some people do to you, that it got you to hate all of us so much? It didn’t come out of nothing, did it?"

Whether those questions were answered at all or just met with the silence of the wind passing them by...once Blake was gone she exhaled several times before dragging herself over to the edge of the roof and trying to look over the edge for any sign of Gretchen.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"...Nevermind."

Hound deflated, his spear spinning to rest across his back again once more as he rested his weight on one foot and glowered at Carnelian, not even trying to meet the general's controlled fury halfway. Whatever the history, the weight of the Talons being across from General Carnelian once again had, it was totally lost on the dog Faunus.

"Woooow. Big bad general Carl in the flesh, eh? Y'shorter in person. To think, you came all the way to Argus..." He squated down next to vernal and nudged her gently with the butt of his spear for signs of life, before he tilted his gaze back up to Carnelian with a toothy smirk. "...just to finish our work for us and let us be on our way! Big bad Carl, too afraid to take on a few mangy, flea infested youngsters without backup? Gettin slow in your old age!" Hound cackled and planted his boot on Vernals back as he stood up, slowly building his own excitement for the hunt back up.

Carnelian's eyes creased in what appeared to be good-natured amusement, seemingly unbothered by the talon's bold proclamations. Any illusions of such were dispelled the moment he opened his mouth, brandishing his sword in a very game way. "Lost my patience for this part of it a long time ago, son. How's about you stop twirling that spear around like a pansy and show me if there's bite to that bark?"

But it wasn't to be, and there was almost a veiled disappointment in the way the general lowered his sword again as another eyebrow arched and red eye glowed while it processed the developments. He didn't recall paying for a show.

Blake turned her gaze over to Carnelian in the interim, her eyes locking onto his even from the distance. She slowly reached up and pulled the mask down from her face; it wasn't something she wore to protect her identity. At this point the name Belladonna was known, all that she'd done and all that she promised to do. These next words for him and him alone, rather than the verbal power plays interwoven with commands for her people. She doubted his old age had left him any less capable of picking out her words from this distance, not with those eyes.

"...Whatever your game is, go ahead and keep playing it. Keep acting the loyal dog, and we'll keep out of your way too. But we're always watching. And all the military might, all the skill, the strength, the resolve, all the experience in the world won't save you or your master when you finally stop toeing the line. Not from us. Not from me."

The terror of a general really didn't have any stake in who walked away with the prisoner, he had to admit, but he did have a job to do and a city's sense of security to maintain. He was speaking into an earpiece and tracking distant movements atop rooftops when the waves of sheer malice rolling off Blake's stare had him look over, a stare he didn't break for the duration of her missive as he gave no indication of whether it meant anything to him.

When it was over, he just raised his eyebrows indulgently and put a hand to his ear, like he was having trouble hearing her.

He wasn't partial to lip, though. And as was the way in war, he made the subordinate pay for it. When Cinder's fireball impacted Eve and sent her tumbling to a stop a short distance from him, the next instant saw him cover cover two long strides in a heartbeat and deliver a boot up the backside so swift and vicious it shattered what was left of her aura as she picked herself up to one knee, completely blindsided. Worse than the pain was the fact that it wasn't a practiced kick meant to fell an enemy, but a dismissive, contemptuous steel toe to the rear that bore more resemblance to kicking something into a gutter or disciplining an unruly dog than it did finishing an opponent off. Eve's cry was one of surprise, embarrassment and half-choked fury, but she didn't emerge from the alley the boot flung her into, and Carnelian allowed his satisfied smile speak for itself as what he presumed to be one of their best tucked tail and ran rather than even try to pay back the indignity he just dealt her. A moment later it was as if it hadn't even happened, Carnelian contrasting his act of cruelty with the charade of a consummate gentleman as he turned his back on the whole affair and began an unflappable stroll back up the street towards his men's blockade, more and more Mantas beginning to populate the skyline.​

 

[MidwayLives]

Her stay away from home had been....longer than she'd expected.

She didn't hold it against anybody though, least of all her best friend.

After all, even when things looked their bleakest he sent that lady to help her!

....What was her name?

Eh, not important.

The swords that Cinder had 'gifted' to Ruby were laid on a nearby workbench. Upon returning to the fortress, Ruby had secluded herself away in her quarters. There was work that needed to be done and it needed pin-point focus. She knew the intractices of Crescent Rose, every bit and piece, every nut and bolt. Rebuilding it wouldn't be an issue. No, the real issue was that she was down an arm and had been since her fateful encounter with her other self. Having been forced to blow up her prosthetic as a means of escape only to end up captured by Eve Taurus. The latter of whom the Masque took a moment to pause and remember all those hideous scars.

"...Oh yeah."

She was supposed to have strong words with Weiss about that. What good would it do to make others suffer after all? They were all supposed to be working together for the good of everyone!

As she sat at her desk and fiddled with the frame of what would become her replacement arm, she took one look....and threw the tools down in frustration. "This was soooo easy the first time! It...It just feels like a chore now!" She cried out in frustration as she pushed herself back from her desk on her rolling chair. Having only arm to work with such fine tools that needed careful precision lest you end up irreversibly breaking something was far harder than it had any right to be and truth be told? Her headspace felt even more cluttered than usual.

'Stay here and be a good girl, okay?'

...That other Yang had been so nice to her.

"AGH!!" The Masque lashed out and knocked some tools to the floor before clutching at the side of her head.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"..." Okay that was cool to see. Completely, totally, utterly unfair, as unfair as unfair can get in all its unfairness, but undeniably cool. Also not good for the young fall maiden.



She didn't even have time to fully Eeeeeeeek in her mind as Blake came rushing in, Cinder's eyes widening in fright as Blake darted out like an inhuman shadow temporarily wreathed in flames. The hit to her gut forced her doubled over, yet she didn't have a chance to so much as gasp before a follow up strike whipped across her jaw and ended with the still attached infernal ribbon jerked her upwards still. Between the blade gut punch and that, the amounts of air within her was running dangerously low.



Even the relatively minor pain of fingers gripping tightly on her short hair was enough to make Cinder cry out. It didn't compare to what followed though, as her skull smashed into brick with enough force to crack the solid stone and then again that to go right through it so hard that the teenager briefly glimpsed stars in her vision. Soft whimpers escaped Cinder's mouth after both blows as she was left in a position that didn't give her any opportunity to fight back. She could only manage to express the fear and the pain that was swimming in her single golden eye.

Then the fear lessened and the pain evident in that eye increased by a substantial amount, Cinder letting out a pained wail as she felt and heard her knee dislocating under the abuse from the faunus. It hurt so bad that despite repeating the mantra I have to be tougher, I have to be stronger in her head, something Vernal had tried to force into her, Cinder couldn't keep a tear from seeping out of her eye and down her face as she yelled with the pain.



"P-please..." Cinder forced out weakly when she could, eye looking to Blake with absolute pleading written all over it, her pupil shifting all over the cat's face in a desperate search for anything remotely resembling mercy in the faunus' face. "...please d-don't..." Cinder begged, not wanting to die here. Not at her age, and not like this...



Her eye had slid to nearly fully shut when the Shadow Fang lieutenant pulled her in, Cinder dreading what might come next. She hadn't been able to find any mercy in that expression. Even Blake's breathing sounded full of animalistic anger. She listened carefully to the words, trying to contain her sniveling in this close proximity. Relief shot through her whole body in waves when Blake declared that she wouldn't die here, but the teenager didn't allow herself to visibly relax, concerned that it might have set her off the faunus despite her words.

Once she was released from the clutches of the faunus and she dropped to the roof below, a few more sniffles came out as she rested there, her eye sliding back to completely open and looking up at Blake.



Before Blake departed, Cinder managed to cough out some words. It wasn't some angry declaration of that all the pain she had just endured, she would pay back onto the faunus. It wasn't any hateful slur or mocking insult, or anything close to that. It was nothing but a few simple curious, concerned questions. Despite all that she had just been put through, despite having a justification to look at the cat faunus with disgust or rage or frustration or a mix of so many negative feelings, Cinder just...didn't. The things visible in that single golden eye were more along the lines of sympathy. Concern. Compassion. Thoughtful empathy.

And above all else, a desire to understand.

"What...what did some people do to you, that it got you to hate all of us so much? It didn’t come out of nothing, did it?"

Whether those questions were answered at all or just met with the silence of the wind passing them by...once Blake was gone she exhaled several times before dragging herself over to the edge of the roof and trying to look over the edge for any sign of Gretchen.​

Blake turned and took a few steps towards the edge of the roof as she pulled a ragged edge off of one of her sleeves to wipe Cinder's blood off her blade. She held it up to the light, none of her motions indicated that she even heard the maiden until she spoke.

"To me? Absolutely nothing."

Her voice was calm as she pocketed the rag and looked out towards the horizon, eyes scanning the city streets for Carnelian's reinforcements.





"No human's ever made me bleed in a fight I didn't start. My parents weren't poor, and I didn't grow up in the mines. Is that what you think I am? A scared, angry girl lashing out for personal revenge? No. There's nothing personal about this, human. I do this for every faunus. For everyone that's been under a human's whip. For every faunus who grew up an orphan because of human cruelty. For every unjust scar that your kind have left. Heh...."

Her gaze went upwards, and there was almost something wistful in her words.

"...Other faunus keep asking me how I could side with him too. Tell me I'm acting like a monster, that the humans can't be worth siding with the grimm. I wish they understood. That humans aren't as bad as grimm."

Her gaze finally met Cinder's own as she looked over her shoulder, her eyes wide with prideful fury as she spat out her next words.

"They're worse."

A dark, terrible roar started to fill the air, the air rustling around Blake

"Worse because they have the capacity to be better, and they aren't. Because for as many faunus as the grimm have killed, the humans have probably killed more. Your kind had one thousand years to change their ways before I was born, before the Shadow Fang forged me into the weapon of vengeance for every faunus that has suffered at your kind's hands. One thousand years to remove our chains and take your boots off our back. That's more time than you deserved. And you will get no more.

The roar came to a head as the massive airship came to a hovering halt besides Blake, a grimm itself in all but truth as its engines buffeted the roof with winds that send Blake's hair and robes billowing

"You want to know why? Because when forced to choose between two monsters sitting on top of the world, I'll pick the ones who kill indiscriminately over the ones who only hurt us. Goodbye, little maiden. Get in my way again, and you'll be hung from the chains you humans refused to let go of."

The airship turned, and Blake leaped from the side of the building to grasp the handle in the hold as it sped off into the sky for where the storm had been raging moments ago.


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But that didn't mean she was going to just accept this. She had no more desire for a prolonged engagement than Blake did, with whatever Atlesian reinforcements Carnelian had coming in. Which is precisely why she didn't go for something that she didn't believe would leave them a chance to fight back. Four things happened, all done in such swift succession that they appeared nearly simultaneous. First, Hound didn't make it into the airship hatch. In mid-air, with very little time to do anything about it, he found his body rapidly freezing over. Yet before the ice fully crept over and completely froze the Shadow Fang soldier, the second thing was there was a sharp tug as a suddenly much longer and unnatural arm yanked Vernal from him in the blink of an eye before she became just as much a frozen statue as Hound did. Third, a fireball shot out of Cinder's other palm towards Eve, so strong and so swiftly that with the short amount of distance between them, it hit before the bull could react and knocked her back. Fourth, strong gusts of winds, while not as intense as what Spring had bringing out, were more than enough to give the airship some heavy turbulence and push it further and further away to keep it from easy pursuit.

With Spring now on her shoulder instead of that foolish mutt's, Cinder directed a superior yet only briefly lasting smile over at Blake.

Cinder got a good idea of why Blake wore the mask she did when she turned to give her that that smile, outside of White Fang tradition; the design she wore was ominous and otherworldly, beautiful in its own way but nothing kind in its archiac swirls and cuts. It was a tool for intimidation, to elevate the myth of the shadow fang's right hand to something more than just another faunus and be a symbol of fear for any human who saw it. This was important, because fear was a powerful tool for the shadowfang, and Blake Belladonna just really did not have an intimidating face. Even with the cold fury in her eyes, her features were just too soft; her eyes too big, her cheeks too gentle. Seeing Blake's face made it all too clear that her faunus traits didn't come from some monstrous predator, not a panther or a black tiger. She was a simple black cat, a breed domesticated long ago, just one that happened to be a little feral.

The reason that Cinder got all this in such a short glance was because that face was right in front of her own, Blake's trail from the airship a dark and jagged wound made of shadows left through the air despite the violent winds. Her foot slammed into Cinder's chest in the same instant with enough force to send Cinder's feet skidding across the concrete and leaving it cracked and broken in her wake as Blake gently landed where Cinder had been standing before with light feet and her hand on the hilt of her weapon. Belladonna hadn't made an idle threat in her life, and neither had she ever forgave a foe the sin of taking their eyes off her.

"So be it" She growled as she lowered her stance. "Maiden number three-"

The terror of a general really didn't have any stake in who walked away with the prisoner, he had to admit, but he did have a job to do and a city's sense of security to maintain. He was speaking into an earpiece and tracking distant movements atop rooftops when the waves of sheer malice rolling off Blake's stare had him look over, a stare he didn't break for the duration of her missive as he gave no indication of whether it meant anything to him.

When it was over, he just raised his eyebrows indulgently and put a hand to his ear, like he was having trouble hearing her.

He wasn't partial to lip, though. And as was the way in war, he made the subordinate pay for it. When Cinder's fireball impacted Eve and sent her tumbling to a stop a short distance from him, the next instant saw him cover cover two long strides in a heartbeat and deliver a boot up the backside so swift and vicious it shattered what was left of her aura as she picked herself up to one knee, completely blindsided. Worse than the pain was the fact that it wasn't a practiced kick meant to fell an enemy, but a dismissive, contemptuous steel toe to the rear that bore more resemblance to kicking something into a gutter or disciplining an unruly dog than it did finishing an opponent off. Eve's cry was one of surprise, embarrassment and half-choked fury, but she didn't emerge from the alley the boot flung her into, and Carnelian allowed his satisfied smile speak for itself as what he presumed to be one of their best tucked tail and ran rather than even try to pay back the indignity he just dealt her. A moment later it was as if it hadn't even happened, Carnelian contrasting his act of cruelty with the charade of a consummate gentleman as he turned his back on the whole affair and began an unflappable stroll back up the street towards his men's blockade, more and more Mantas beginning to populate the skyline.

For all the talk, for all that she believed she wasn't anything but a weapon now, there were still pieces of Blake that clung onto her own personhood. Anchors to her old life, bits of herself left behind like a trail of breadcrumbs that she'd slowly pick back up once The Work was done, to puzzle back together in whatever was left of her heart when it was all over, for the tiniest part of herself that thought there would be an end to The Work in her lifetime.

One of those anchors had just cried out in pain, and in that moment, the murderous intent consuming the Right Hand gave way to Blake Belladonna's surprised concern as her head turned.

The fall maiden probably didn't need more than that.

Wherever Blake ended up after that, she slowly pushed herself back to her knees and slammed a fist into the ground "DAMN'T!"

Her gaze swung back up to see the maiden gone, and the reinforcements nearing. She swore again as she forced herself up to her feet, and pulled her scroll out of her robes to access the comms that way.

"Bull, are you okay?! We need to leave, now."

 

[Gus Gungus]

Wherever Blake ended up after that, she slowly pushed herself back to her knees and slammed a fist into the ground "DAMN'T!"

Her gaze swung back up to see the maiden gone, and the reinforcements nearing. She swore again as she forced herself up to her feet, and pulled her scroll out of her robes to access the comms that way.

"Bull, are you okay?! We need to leave, now."

"Yes, Blake, I'm fine." Wherever Blake ended up also happened to be where Eve emerged from the shadows next, in no way a coincidence as she opted to forgo the use of those ridiculous callsigns. Her stare on the Hand was inscrutable as it was unwavering, a guarded, steady look that forced a distance between the two faunus greater than the one between their bodies as she kept both tone and demeanor professional save for the name drop. The sour curl to her lip and faint strain of quavering anger in her voice painted a different picture though, one of the frustration, hurt and wounded pride she felt towards proceedings over the last few minutes that she was clearly making a focused effort to conceal from the other faunus as she gestured sharply towards the ship with her chin.

"Well?"​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Yes, Blake, I'm fine." Wherever Blake ended up also happened to be where Eve emerged from the shadows next, in no way a coincidence as she opted to forgo the use of those ridiculous callsigns. Her stare on the Hand was inscrutable as it was unwavering, a guarded, steady look that forced a distance between the two faunus greater than the one between their bodies as she kept both tone and demeanor professional save for the name drop. The sour curl to her lip and faint strain of quavering anger in her voice painted a different picture though, one of the frustration, hurt and wounded pride she felt towards proceedings over the last few minutes that she was clearly making a focused effort to conceal from the other faunus as she gestured sharply towards the ship with her chin.

"Well?"​

She whirled on Eve at the suddenness of her words, Blake's senses out of sorts in the mixture of frustration, anger, and fear for the other faunus that had briefly gripped her. Without the mask, her own gaze was as open as it always was; yet another reason she kept it on so often, to the point that it slightly yet noticeably paler than the rest of her skin. She met Eve's eyes with an anxious frown that looked wholly out of place in the eyes that had been so furious, so righteous a minute ago, but she bit it down with a firm nod as she gave her response.

"Right."

Then she was gone, a blur ricocheting from the walls that alighted gently in the airships open hatch. She roved her gaze across the other talons; Tiger with a starting to slightly squirm against Hound under arms, and Wolf in the cockpit. She knelt down and grabbed her mask from where it had dropped to the floor when she'd leaped out after Cinder

"... Lets go. We did what we could. I'll take this up with Lord Ozpin myself; either one of his human pets have gone rogue, or he doesn't respect what we're capable of. either way...." She said as she turned to look down on Argus, one last glare sent to the human infested city as the hatch doors began to slide shut with the hum of gears. She slid the mask on back onto her face, and whatever softness had infected her words below was stamped out.

"...Someone will answer for this transgression."